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Two Crew Killed as Multi-Front Wildfires Sweep Near Athens

Strong winds have grounded aerial water drops, increasing pressure on Greek ground crews and foreign reinforcements.

Overview

  • Large wildfires that began in Boeotia have spread into Attica and coastal pine forests near Porto Germeno, destroying homes and leaving multiple active fronts.
  • Greece has deployed roughly 496 firefighters with 22 teams and 134 fire engines, and accepted reinforcements from France and Romania to bolster exhausted ground crews.
  • A mid-air collision between two firefighting helicopters killed a Danish pilot and a Greek fire-service liaison officer, while the crew of the second helicopter including a British pilot and a Greek liaison were rescued and taken to an Air Force hospital in Athens.
  • Evacuations have been widespread, with about 300 people rescued by sea after ignoring early warnings and industrial zones and villages near Megara ordered clear for safety.
  • Very strong winds are preventing many aerial water pickups and drops, and concurrent large fires in France and Spain are turning this into a wider European firefighting crisis that is straining resources and contributing to recent firefighter deaths.