Fears of new fires as Athens counts cost of climate crisis

Firefighters battled yesterday to extinguish the final pockets of a wildfire near Athens that killed a woman and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. The blaze burned 40 square miles of land northeast of the Greek capital this week, and came within a few miles of reaching a tourist-packed city centre.

- RICH BOOTH

Most of the fronts had eased three days after the inferno first took hold, but officials warned against complacency as firefighters were still battling sporadic flare-ups.

Temperatures were expected to hit 40C across the country yesterday, and many areas will remain on fire alert until the end of today due to strong winds and dry land. Some were still suffering from power cuts yesterday afternoon after power cables were taken down by the fire.

Greece, which has recently tightened penalties for arson, has dealt with over 3,500 fires since May, a nearly 50 per cent increase from the same period in 2023, when it recorded 2,300 blazes.