A view of a burned house in Psatha, Greece, on August 4, 2026. [Louisa Gouliamaki/Reuters]
Wildfires that burned northwest of Athens were easing on Tuesday though hundreds of firefighters were on alert for persistent flare-ups, while rugged hills and canyons hampered efforts to fully contain a blaze that gutted homes and scorched forests, farmland and olive groves.
Local crews supported by water-bombing aircraft and reinforcements from Romania and France were operating on three fronts west of Athens in the Gulf of Corinth, dousing flames raging since Friday.
Strong dry winds blowing from the Aegean Sea, known as the meltemi, had complicated their efforts, with water bombers unable to operate at times, officials said.
“We are talking about a fire where we didn’t have an aircraft at our disposal for 30 continuous hours, which caused us a lot of difficulties,” deputy fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told public broadcaster ERT.
