Wildfire approaches Megara; five killed as blazes rage across Greece

A fast-moving wildfire has come dangerously close to the town of Megara, about 50 kilometres west of Athens, as the death toll from this week’s blazes in Greece rose to five.

Hundreds of emergency personnel, including firefighting crews from Romania and France, are engaged in suppression efforts around the heavily forested Kithaeron mountain range. The mayor of Megara, a town of roughly 36,000 inhabitants, warned that "The situation is chaotic," in an interview with the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation.

Authorities estimate that since Friday more than 10,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed, along with houses, barns and agricultural land. Residents in several communities received SMS evacuation orders as the flames advanced.

Helicopter collision, arrests and suspected arson

On Sunday two firefighting helicopters collided near Psata, west of Athens. Footage broadcast on television showed one of the aircraft catching fire and crashing to the ground. Two crew members — one Greek and one Danish — were killed in the impact; the crews of the other helicopter managed to force-land and survived, the Greek Fire Service said. With that accident included, the total number of people killed in the fires has reached five; three firefighters had died last week on Crete and the Peloponnese peninsula.

Investigators are examining several possible causes. Authorities say sparks from power lines belonging to a private network at a wind park could have ignited the large blaze after strong winds caused the lines to oscillate; two people have been detained in connection with that inquiry. Separately, a 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of deliberately starting a new fire on the island of Kefalonia.

The Hellenic Fire Service reported 73 wildfires across the country, 51 of them igniting on Friday alone, and said strong winds have repeatedly hampered aerial firefighting. Colonel Vasilis Vatrakogianis, a fire service spokesman, warned that the winds were complicating suppression efforts.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on Facebook that "When the wind blows with such force, even the dozens of aircraft at our disposal cannot be used safely." The national meteorological service forecast weakening winds for today, but civil protection agencies cautioned that the danger remains and there is no room for complacency.

Photo: press material from the event