The sea is visible through the remains of a house destroyed by a wildfire in Porto Germeno northwest of Athens on Tuesday. [Petros Giannakouris/AP]
More than 500 firefighters, assisted by a fleet of fire-bombing aircraft, strove to contain flare-ups Monday from a huge wildfire that broke out last week west of Athens and destroyed some 13,000 hectares of mostly forest land, forced multiple evacuations and destroyed homes.
Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis said scattered active fires were still burning in some parts of the afflicted areas. He said a “vast number” of firefighters, assisted by volunteers, were operating in the area where the blaze started on Friday.
Investigators believe it was triggered by sparks from an overhead power line linking a wind farm with the electricity grid, that showered onto dry brush after faulty construction allowed cables to touch and short-circuit. Two people involved with the project have been arrested.
Data released Tuesday show that about 42% of the forests that until just ten years ago covered the Attica region, which includes and surrounds the Greek capital, have been destroyed by fire since then.
