State of Emergency in Greece as Forest Fires Threaten Athens

Authorities in Greece have declared a state of emergency and requested assistance from other European countries as they battle forest fires raging on the Northeastern outskirts of the capital Athens.

Backed by strong winds the main fire moved rapidly to within 7.5 miles of the capital, reports the Earth Times, breaking out sometime around late Friday or early Saturday 25 miles northeast of Athens in the village of Grammatiko. As it moved south it burned thousands of acres of forest and damaged homes that were in its path. Main residences, vacation homes, summer camps, hospitals and homes for the elderly are among the places that have had to be evacuated. However the areas mainly hit by the fires are said to be quite sparsely populated. CNN confirms that as many as 600 firefighters and soldiers are tackling the principal fire, which is raging across a 7-mile front. The official effort has been boosted by residents, who are now becoming used to seeing forest fires engulfing areas of Greece during the summer, working with shovels and buckets. Whilst the hot, dry summers are big contributing factors to the outbreak of the fires, arson is not unknown, although at the moment the cause of the latest fires is still under investigation. Water-bombers and helicopters are important weapons in the battle to contain the blazes but as well as being unable to operate at night they are also being hampered during the daytime by the thickness of the smoke. Up to 12 planes and nine helicopters have been involved in the ongoing fight to prevent further destruction and protect the more heavily populated districts of Athens. Changeable wind conditions too have made the task of those tackling the fires extremely difficult. Italy, France and Cyprus have already responded to the appeal for help that Greek authorities made through the European Union. At present it appears that they will be deploying equipment rather than actual rescue crews. Meanwhile other parts of Greece have not escaped the fires as areas on the mainland and some islands find themselves in a similar predicament to the area around Athens, if not on such a large scale. The Ionian island of Zakynthos has seen some 2,000 acres hit by fire whilst the popular tourist destination of Rhodes, the largest island in the Dodecaneses, has been affected as well. In 2007 scores of people lost their lives when the island of Evia and the western Peloponnese endured 10 days of fires, but there have been no reports of injuries during the current emergency.