The forest fire that broke out on Sunday northeast of Athens has reached Mount Penteli and is burning uncontrollably in the suburbs of Nea and Palia Penteli.
Video footage shows flames approaching homes in the area, as strong winds push the wildfire southwards.
The Fire Service said messages had been sent for the evacuation of Nea Penteli and Palia Penteli and urged citizens to move southwards towards the suburbs of Vrilissia and Chalandri.
Penteli is situated on the southern slopes of the limestone Penteli mountains. The municipality has an area of approximately 14 square miles (36.064 km2), and the municipal unit of Penteli is approximately 11 square miles (28.878 km2). It is just over 8.5 miles (14 km) northeast of central Athens. Some of the neighborhoods of Penteli are Agia Triada, Agios Dimitrios, Daou, and Kallithea.
Forest fire approaching Athens
The forest fire that broke out on Sunday at Varnavas has expanded rapidly overnight southwards towards the Greek capital. It spread like lighting covering at least 12 miles (20 kilometers) over a few hours.
Greek media report that many houses have been burned. However, there is no official statement from Greek authorities yet. There have been reports of injuries caused mainly by smoke inhalation.
Police issued a statement calling on citizens to avoid movement towards the areas affected by fires and to follow, for their own safety, the instructions issued for the evacuation of areas.
“The Greek Police strongly appeals to all citizens to avoid any movement towards the areas affected by fires, as this way the work of the Traffic and Fire Brigades is made more difficult,” the announcement says.
Minister defends response
Earlier on Monday, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said that a fierce battle against the flames was being fought on two fronts, those of Grammatiko and Kallitechnoupolis, while the situation in Dionysos, Varnavas, and Mikrochori was visibly better.
“Since yesterday afternoon, the residents of northeastern Attica have been tested by an extremely dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours in extremely difficult conditions due to the strong winds and extended drought and the very rough and inaccessible terrain in a dense, unburned forest,” the minister said.
“At this time, a hard battle is being fought on two fronts: one is the Kallitechnoupolis area and the other is the area of Grammatiko. There is an improved picture in Dionysos, Varnavas and Mikrochori,” he added.
The minister said that 670 fire-fighters, 27 forest commando units, 183 vehicles, and 32 aircraft (17 airplanes and 15 helicopters) were deployed to fight the fires, while wind speeds remained high at 7 Beaufort and were forecast to remain high for the next hours.
“I want to be clear. The response with both ground forces and aerial means to the original blaze in Varnavas was immediate,” Kikilias said. “The first aircraft operated just five minutes after the start of the fire, as it was already in the air and patrolling with a full load, while the first ground forces arrived within the first seven minutes. Gradually and very swiftly, the forces were constantly reinforced, with the fire-fighting aircraft reaching 29 in total and the fire-fighters exceeding 500.”
“Unfortunately, the forecast of the Risk Assessment Committee that placed Attica and other areas of Greece on red alert was confirmed,” he added. “We will continue with all our forces until the fire is under control and the last flame put out.”
