Wind farm link suspected in massive Athens-area wildfire; Stylida mayor arrested

Greek investigators suspect a wind farm near the village of Agios Vasilios sparked the large forest fire that has been burning for days northwest of Athens, authorities said. The blaze, which ignited after electrical sparks in an overhead line that links turbines to the network, has devastated more than 10,000 hectares of forest and low vegetation.

Arrests follow probe into transmission line

Police detained the electrical engineer responsible for the transmission line and the mayor of Stylida, Ioannis Apostolou, whose construction company built the network. The owner of the wind farm also faces criminal charges. Investigators say the same overhead line may have caused a smaller fire on 27 June that burned about six hectares.

According to the inquiry by the Hellenic Fire Service, the latest inferno started when strong winds caused the cables linking five turbines to swing and produce sparks. Those sparks ignited the dry vegetation beneath the poles, vegetation that investigators say had not been cleared.

Officials say the small June fire was extinguished early after it affected only some six hectares. At that time no arrests were made; Apostolou's company carried out repairs to the transmission line afterwards. Investigators now consider those fixes insufficient, since the new fire began roughly 150 metres from the June incident.

The current fire has exacted a heavy human and environmental toll. More than 10,000 hectares have burned, and two people were killed when two firefighting helicopters collided while fighting the blaze on Sunday.

Construction of the wind park was reportedly completed in June, when the facility was connected to the national electricity grid. Authorities continue criminal and technical investigations into the chain of failures that led to the catastrophe.

Photo: EPA-EFE/MAURITZ ANTIN