A firefighter guides a fire truck at the fire front in Kouvaras, east Attica, on August 10. [Intime News]
Fire investigators are focusing on a low-voltage utility pole as the likely origin of a wildfire that broke out Monday around 8 a.m. near Kouvaras, Attica.
No other suspicious activity was recorded at the site, which firefighters guarded overnight ahead of an expert inspection. Residents interviewed placed the fire’s start near the pole.
Fanned by wind, the blaze spread quickly through low vegetation, prompting an emergency evacuation order for the Agios Stylianos community.
More than 160 firefighters, 42 vehicles, water tankers and nine aircraft fought the flames, which were contained by evening. Investigators say five of Greece’s 19 major wildfires this year, burning over 17,000 hectares, are preliminarily linked to grid failures. And two people were arrested in Corinth over a fire allegedly sparked by a short circuit at a solar park, and prosecutors ordered a nationwide probe into wind farm installations.
