On Sunday, a wildfire driven by powerful gale-force winds spread over the Greek island of Serifos, forcing officials to evacuate numerous villages. Firefighters, numbering over a dozen and using four fire engines, tried to suppress the wildfire, which started on low vegetation but spread quickly owing to the windy circumstances. Additional firefighting personnel were scheduled to join the battle throughout the night, as about 50 flames erupted across Greece on Saturday under hot and windy conditions.
On Saturday, a large wildfire west of Athens in a forested region with mountains started to lessen, despite the fact that 160 firemen were still fighting the fire. Winds surpassing 100 kph (62 mph) made the Mount Parnitha fire, north of Athens, a threat to a nearby nature reserve and made combating the fire more difficult. These harsh circumstances prevented water-carrying planes from operating at night.
Minister of Civil Protection Vassilis Kikilias stressed that although there was no longer an active front in the fire, attempts to completely put it out continued all night. Thankfully, this fire did not appear to pose an imminent threat to any residences. The severe winds were expected to last until Sunday, according to meteorologists, making combating the fire more difficult.
Greece is prone to flames, and as a result of climate change, its summers have been hotter, drier, and windier, resulting in increasingly catastrophic fire seasons. Greece has adopted new firefighting techniques in the wake of last summer's catastrophic wildfires and the nation's hottest winter ever. These include increasing air support capabilities, sending out an extra fire vehicle for each new fire, and clearing forests to reduce the danger of wildfires.
Greece's natural ecosystems remain vulnerable to wildfire outbreaks even with enhanced response tactics, as demonstrated by the 2007 large fire that severely damaged Mount Parnitha, a mountain famous for its thick forests of pine and fir trees.
