Fire around Athens is 'out of control'

Sustained and variable winds fuel the fire around Athens.New evacuations imposed.The EU is taking action to avoid the worst.

There is no sign of the situation improving north-eastern suburbs of Athens, hit on Sunday by a gigantic fire which continues to spread, thanks to the heat extreme, i winds supported and the arid soil due to low rainfall.Despite an increasingly impressive deployment of men and vehicles, the flames continue to expand and are pointing towards the capital.In some cases, they exceeded twenty meters in height.

A first victim in Vrilissia, two firefighters burned

A first victim was identified in the town of Vrilissia, according to what reported by the BBC:it would be a woman, whose body was found in a shop, but she has not yet been identified.Two firefighters also remained burned, as explained by Greek fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

In the meantime, the evacuations of thousands of people.But there are those who remain on site to help the titanic effort of the firefighters:“We try to wet the vegetation and everything that can burn, hoping that the wind will die down,” says a resident who volunteered voluntary.Some of them, however, had to witness the worst of shows:not having managed to contain the fire in time, they were forced to watch their homes burn.

Italy and France send men and equipment.The fire has already consumed 400 square kilometers

There Greece asked for help to other nations due to the severity of the situation, and they issued a new evacuation order, this time for the coastal town of Nea Makri.Two Canadairs arrived fromItaly, while the France he made it known that he was preparing to send a helicopter, 180 men and 55 trucks.“We stand with Greece in the fight against this devastating fire,” declared the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.

Nikolaos Lavranos, President of the Panhellenic Federation of Fire Service Employees, he explained that the fire is currently "out of control and extremely aggressive".This is also due to the continuous cboth wind directions, which make it difficult to predict the "path" of the flames, which have already devoured more than 400 square kilometers of land.

At present there are more on site 700 firefighters, 199 fire engines and 35 Canadairs.