EU sends help to fight raging fires in Balkans
VARIBOBI, Greece — The European Union promised assistance Wednesday to Greece and other countries in southeast Europe grappling with huge wildfires after a blaze gutted or damaged more than 100 homes and businesses near Athens.
Fire crews in Greece raced to contain the wildfire on the outskirts of the capital that forced thousands to flee, and threatened a former royal palace.
Greece is enduring its worst heat wave in decades, with temperatures in parts of the country expected to reach 113 Fahrenheit. Neighboring countries are facing similar conditions.
A European Union disaster response mechanism said assistance, including firefighters and waterdropping planes, were being sent from other EU members to Italy, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia.
The EU Atmosphere Monitoring Service said smoke plumes from fires were clearly visible in satellite images of the region. It said satellite data also showed that the intensity of the wildfires in Turkey was at the highest level since records started in 2003. A coalfueled power plant in southwest Turkey and nearby residential areas were being evacuated Wednesday evening as flames from a wildfire reached inside the plant, local reporters said.
The Fire Service took advantage of cooler morning hours to send lowflying helicopters and planes to dump water on charred forest land around Tatoi, 12.5 miles north of Athens, where more than 500 firefighters had battled through the night to contain the blaze. At least 80 cars were burned.
“The ground crews did vital work, (fighting) nightmarish fires in suburban forests,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, visiting a mobile control center in the area. “We had no loss of human life . ... Homes will be rebuilt, and over time the forest will grow back.”
Authorities said more than 100 homes and businesses had been seriously damaged or destroyed, and more than 500 people had spent the night in hotels used as shelters.
Extreme weather also has fueled deadly wildfires across the Mediterranean region.
The fire outside Athens sent clouds of smoke over the Greek capital, obscuring visibility and prompting health authorities to issue warnings to people with breathing difficulties to remain indoors. The grounds of a summer palace once owned by Greece’s former royal family were damaged, but none of the buildings.
Sporadic power outages were reported in areas of the city near the fire, after the flames toppled electricity transmission towers.
Authorities said 81 wildfires had been reported around the country in 24 hours from late Monday to late Tuesday.