Hundreds of firefighters continue to battle a significant wildfire west of Athens, Greece, as water-dropping planes and helicopters took to the skies at first light on Monday. The renewed aerial operations follow a fatal midair collision between two firefighting helicopters on Sunday, which claimed the lives of two crew members, one Greek and one Danish national.
The collision underscored the perilous nature of the ongoing wildfire emergency in Europe. Flames advanced further into areas near the Greek capital, prompting additional evacuations in the early hours of Monday. The fire, which ignited Friday morning, spread through pine forests and scrubland over the weekend, fueled by strong, gusty winds that frequently hampered aerial firefighting efforts.
Two crew members from the second helicopter involved in the collision, a Greek and a British national, were hospitalized with minor injuries. International crews and aircraft are commonly deployed in Greece during the country's hot and dry summers to assist in wildfire containment.
As of Monday, the winds began to subside, offering a more hopeful outlook for the nearly 500 firefighters working to halt the blaze's progress. However, authorities cautioned that the broader Athens region of Attica remains at high risk due to a predicted increase in temperatures. More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the affected areas, with over 250 individuals rescued by boat from local beaches.
Authorities issued evacuation orders for three additional areas early Monday, while ground crews worked to establish firebreaks in forested areas to impede the fire's advance. Greece’s firefighting department indicated that the fire likely originated from sparks emitted by a faulty power line connected to a private wind generator facility. Two individuals, an electrical engineer overseeing the project and a contractor involved in the transmission network's construction, have been arrested and face felony arson charges. An arrest warrant has also been issued for the owner of the wind generator company.
Greece experiences devastating wildfires annually, exacerbated by hot, dry conditions and strong winds that can quickly escalate minor sparks into major blazes. While negligence, often stemming from ignored fire-risk measures like barbecue bans or improper use of power tools, is cited as the cause for most fires, some are deliberately set. On Sunday, a man was arrested on suspicion of starting a wildfire on Kefalonia island that led to the evacuation of nearby villages.
Meanwhile, France is still contending with its largest wildfire, which has been contained within its perimeter but forced the evacuation of 224,000 people. Hot spots continue to burn within the 420-square-kilometer (162-square-mile) area affected by the blaze in the Gironde region, and thousands remain displaced. Thousands of firefighters are engaged in combating this fire and a second blaze in Provence. Combined, fires in France and Spain have displaced approximately one-third of a million people, emptying communities during the peak European summer and straining emergency services responding to simultaneous disasters.