2024 Attica wildfires | |
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![]() NASA satellite image showing a cloud of smoke over Attica on August 12, 2024 | |
Date(s) | 11 - 14 August 15:02 – |
Location | Attica, Greece |
Coordinates | 38°14′40″N23°55′43″E / 38.244529°N 23.928745°E |
Statistics | |
Burned area | 8,594.2 hectares / 85.94km² / 21,236.73 acres |
Impacts | |
Deaths | 1 |
Non-fatal injuries | 2 [1] |
Ignition | |
Cause | heat wave, wind |
On the afternoon of August 11, a wildfire fire hit Northeastern Attica region. The fire broke out in the area of Varnavas, northeast of Athens, at 3:02 PM, according to Fire Colonel Vassileios Vathrakogiannis, the Fire Service spokesman and quickly spread due to strong winds. The flames caused the evacuation of many settlements and caused severe damage to homes and forest lands. The fire continues to burn, affecting significant parts of northeastern Attica and threatening the northern districts of Athens. [2]
The fire spread southward and burned on three fronts, including the village of Grammatiko, the town of Marathon, the seaside municipality of Nea Makri and Mount Penteli. [1]
Another blaze in a forested area near the town of Megara, west of Athens, started on 11 August, but had been contained by the afternoon of 12 August, according to the fire brigade. [3]
Early attempts involved 120 firefighters, nine ground teams, 23 vehicles, two planes and three helicopters. Residents were being evacuated toward Grammatiko and Kifisia. [4]
Shortly after 18:00, 250 firefighters with 67 fire engines, were already fighting the fire on the ground, by water wagons from the regional administration and the armed forces. 12 planes and 6 helicopters were dousing the fires and one helicopter served to coordinate them. [2]
On 12 August, the forces deployed against the flames were increased to 560 firefighters, together with 16 teams of forest commandos and 177 vehicles, while 32 aircraft (17 airplanes and 15 helicopters) were operating from the air. [1] [5] The Hellenic Army was also been deployed to assist. [6]
By 13 August, the wildfire no longer had a single front. According to the Fire Brigade, the firefighters had to deal with scattered pockets of fire from Varnavas to Nea Makri and Penteli, while there were constant rekindlings. [7]
Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias stated that overall, a total of 702 firefighters were deployed, with 27 forest commando groups, 199 vehicles, while 17 aircraft and 18 helicopters operated periodically, three of which had a coordinating role. In total, Civil Protection sent evacuation messages to 45 areas of Attica. [8]
On 12 August, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was mobilized. [9] The following countries responded:
Other countries' contribution:
According to the Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping Viewer, the fire fronts reached a total of 23.9 km (14.9 mi), while the fire burned 8,594.2 hectares (21,237 acres) of land, with 157.8 hectares (390 acres) accounting for land consisting of residential buildings. [14] It was the first time that a wildfire that started around the Attica region, penetrated so deep within the residential core of the city of Athens, reaching the suburbs of Vrilissia and Chalandri. [15]
One firefighter was injured while fighting the fire in the area of Marathon, suffering second degree burns to his hands and legs. He was first taken to the Nea Makri health centre and then to the 251 Air Force General Hospital. [5]
Two fire trucks were engulfed in flames in the area of Neos Voutzas, where the fire is raging out of control. One firefighter suffered minor burns and the remaining three were in good health. [16]
A hospital, a children's hospital and a military hospital, as well as at least two monasteries, were also evacuated. [13] [17]
Thirty-one people from areas of north-eastern Attica were transported to hospitals with respiratory problems. [18]
In the early hours of 13 August, the charred body of a 62 [19] years old Moldovan woman [20] was found inside the building of a local business, at the Patima neighborhood of the Athenian suburb of Chalandri. She had been missing since noon of the previous day. [21]
Attica, or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and the core city of the metropolitan area, as well as its surrounding suburban cities and towns. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Sea, bordering on Boeotia to the north and Megaris to the west. The southern tip of the peninsula, known as Laurion, was an important mining region.
Mount Parnitha is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καραβόλα). Much of the mountain is designated a national park, and is a protected habitat for wildfowl, first created in 1961. The summit is located 18 km north of Acharnes and about 30 km north of the Athens city center. The mountain covers approximately 250 km² of land. Other peaks include Mavrovouni (Μαυροβούνι), Ornio, Area, Avgo or Avgho, and Xerovouni. It also has two shelters Mpafi and Flampouri. The name of the mountain dates back to ancient times, when it was under the ancient demes of Acharnae and Decelea.
Mount Pentelicus or Pentelikon is a mountain in Attica, Greece, situated northeast of Athens and southwest of Marathon. Its highest point is the peak Pyrgari, with an elevation of 1,109 m. The mountain is covered in large part with forest, and can be seen from southern Athens (Attica), the Pedia plain, Parnitha, and the southern part of the northern suburbs of Athens. Houses surround the mountain, especially in Vrilissia, Penteli, Ekali, Dionysos, and north of Gerakas. Marble from Mount Pentelicus is of exceptionally high quality and was used to construct much of the Athenian Acropolis. Later, Pentelic marble was exported to Rome, where it was used in construction and in sculptures.
Vrilissia is a suburban town and a municipality of the North Athens regional unit, in the Attica region. It is located in the Athens basin, at the southwestern foot of the Penteli Mountain. At the 2021 census, the municipality had 32,417 residents.
Acharnes is a suburb and a municipality in Athens, Greece, in the East Attica regional unit. With 108,169 inhabitants, it is the ninth most populous municipality in Greece. It is part of the Athens urban area.
Mati is a village in Greece. The village is located on the east coast of the Attica region, 29 kilometres (18 mi) east of Athens, and it is a popular holiday resort.
Ano Liosia is a town and a former municipality in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Fyli, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of 38.447 km2.
Penteli is a village and a municipality in the North Athens regional unit, Attica, Greece. Belonging to the Athens rural area, it takes its name from Mount Pentelicus.
The 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007. The most destructive and lethal infernos broke out on 23 August, expanded rapidly and raged out of control until 27 August, until they were finally put out in early September. The fires mainly affected western and southern Peloponnese as well as southern Euboea. The death toll in August alone stood at 67 people. In total 85 people lost their lives because of the fires, including several fire fighters.
Hydra (F-452) is the lead ship of the Greek Hydra-class frigate and flagship of the Hellenic Navy. The ship was built in the same shipyard as the Blohm + Voss MEKO 200 frigate class, on which its design was based. Three more vessels were built by Hellenic Shipyards Co. at Skaramagas in following years. It is the fifth ship in the Hellenic Navy to bear the name Hydra.
The 2009 Mediterranean wildfires were a series of wildfires that broke out across France, Greece, Italy, Spain, and Turkey in July 2009. Strong winds spread the fire during a hot, dry period of weather killing at least eight people, six of whom were in Spain. Some of the wildfires were caused by lightning, along with arson and military training.
The 2009 Greek forest fires were a series of massive wildfires that broke out across several areas in Greece during the summer of 2009. The fires began in Grammatiko, about twenty-five miles north-east of the Greek capital, Athens on 21 August 2009 and spread quickly towards the suburbs, engulfing fourteen towns within the next three days. 10,000 residents of Agios Stefanos were asked to evacuate the area. Approximately 600 firefighters and soldiers, twelve fire-fighting aircraft and nine helicopters were deployed to extinguish the fire. These fires are the worst since 2007, though no casualties have been reported.
Kalogria beach is the name of a sandy and award-winning with Blue Flag beach that is located in the vicinity of the village Araxos, in Northwestern Peloponnese, Greece. The beach is beside the Kotychi and Strofylia National Park, it has a length of ~9 Km and width 80m and is one of the longest sandy beaches of Greece. The beach is a popular destination for many tourists and Greeks.
A series of wildfires in Greece, during the 2018 European heat wave, began in the coastal areas of Attica in July 2018. 104 people were confirmed dead from the Mati fires. The fires were, at that time, the second-deadliest wildfire event in the 21st century, after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Australia that killed 173.
The 2021 Greece wildfires were multiple wildfires in Greece in August 2021, which killed 3 people, injured at least 20 others and burned dozens of homes, after a historic heatwave for the country, with the highest temperatures reaching 47.1 °C (116.8 °F). Authorities evacuated several villages and towns. According to BBC News, Greece experienced the worst heatwave since 1987. These fires were the worst fires in Greece since the 2007 Greek forest fires which burnt more than double the area of the 2021 fires.
During the morning hours of 15 November 2017, after heavy rainfall caused because of the barometric low Eurydice and the Cyclone Numa, flooding occurred in Western Attica and mainly in Mandra, Nea Peramos, Magoula and Elefsina. The floods killed 24 people and caused severe damage. This is the third largest flood in Attica based on the number of dead.
Storm Ballos was a notable extratropical cyclone that caused devastating floods across Greece during mid-October 2021. The second storm to be officially named in conjunction with the naming list of the former, Israel and Cyprus, Ballos formed on 13 October over the Mediterranean Sea from the combination of a frontal system and a circulation which first developed, two days earlier. It then moved over Greece, before proceeding into the Aegean Sea, where it slowly weakened and dissipated by 16 October. However, despite the HNMC naming the system, the Free University of Berlin (FUB) didn’t assign any name on it along with its weather maps.
In June through August 2022, parts of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa were affected by wildfires. The bulk of the fires affected Mediterranean Countries, with the main areas affected being Algeria, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain.
In July 2023, multiple wildfires started in Greece. They resulted in at least 28 deaths and injured 75 people, with over 80 wildfires being recorded. Seventy-nine people were arrested for arson.