Greece: Wildfire Burns Its Way into Athens

As dawn breaks in Greece, a blanket of thick brown smoke and ash looms over Athens.

A massive wildfire reached the capital in the early hours and began burning four of the city’s eastern suburbs.

The blaze started two days ago, about 50 kilometres northeast of the capital.

Hundreds of firefighters struggled to control the flames overnight and failed.

Now, strong winds are fuelling the fire and more people are fleeing their homes.

Some are choosing to stay to defend them.

There’s anger that authorities are not doing enough.

[Unidentified Local Resident]:
„The fire has passed the street and is coming towards us and we have not seen one fire engine. We have no help at all. I am asking myself what kind of country we live in.“

Hope of extinguishing the fire is focused on fire fighting planes with reinforcements expected from France and Italy.

No one has been injured but locals have reported respiratory problems.

High temperatures and winds make wildfires common in Greece during summer.

In 2007 at least 67 people died in the country’s worst fires in decades.

(NTDTV)