A massive wildfire blazed its way into Athens’ northeastern suburbs on Monday as hundreds of firefighters battled to contain it, forcing thousands of residents to flee their homes and sparking a Greek government appeal for international help.
In scenes never before seen in the Greek capital, residents wearing masks against the choking smoke were desperately dousing their homes with water hoses in the leafy suburbs of Nea Penteli and Vrilissia in an effort to render them less vulnerable to fire.
Television footage showed several cars in both areas gutted by fire and the roofs of stately homes burning as water-bombing helicopters roared overhead.
Greece on Monday formally called for EU assistance, a spokesman said.
“The EU civil protection mechanism was activated upon request of the Greek authorities,” EU spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement, adding that Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania were sending units to help.
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Paris was sending 180 firefighters, 55 trucks and a helicopter.
The wildfire started on Sunday afternoon in the town of Varnavas, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) northeast of Athens.
Aided by strong winds, it grew to a 30-kilometer long frontline of fires, more than 25 meters (80 feet) high in places.
Nearly 700 firefighters with 190 fire engines and over 30 aircraft sought to contain it, but it scaled Mount Pentelicon, which looms over the Greek capital.
“We are facing a biblical catastrophe,” said Marathon’s mayor Stergios Tsirkas. “Our whole town is engulfed in flames,” he told the Skai television channel.
The summer wildfire season in Greece this year has seen dozens of daily blazes after the Mediterranean country recorded its warmest winter and the hottest June and July since reliable data collection began in 1960.
Temperatures around Athens were forecast to peak at 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday, with wind gusts of up to 50 kilometers (31 miles) per hour.