SAccording to the Skai radio station, this morning small fires were recorded in the Erythros area of Nea Makris, which were quickly controlled with the help of two planes and five tanker helicopters.
Firefighters continue to patrol the area to control any possible rekindling.
The huge fire broke out on Sunday in the Attica region, on the outskirts of Athens, and, fuelled by strong winds, quickly spread to the capital’s urban area, killing one person and causing a trail of destruction.
Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave their homes as the flames spread rapidly, devastating houses, shops and cars, as well as crops and vegetation.
Due to the dryness of the terrain and the high temperatures, the ground continues to “smoke” in many areas, even in places where the fire has already been extinguished.
It was a “very difficult fire, perhaps the most difficult we have faced in recent years,” firefighters’ union president Kostas Tsigas told Skai.
Never before had a forest fire come so close to the urban fabric of Athens, which was left shrouded in thick smoke.
The European Copernicus satellite system estimates that the damage affected around 471 hectares of urban areas and affected approximately 4,200 people.
While authorities are trying to determine the cause of the fire, residents who had been evacuated are beginning to return and deal with the material damage to their homes, reports the Vradini.gr portal.
According to an initial assessment presented the day before at a ministerial meeting chaired by the conservative Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, less than 10% of the hectares burned are forest areas and around a hundred buildings were damaged.
While investigating the origin of the fire, authorities are assessing whether it could have been caused by a broken electrical cable on a pole, reports the Kathimerini daily.
The socialist PASOK party today called for a parliamentary debate on the fire, scheduled for September.
The opposition Syriza party has criticised the current government’s civil protection service, saying that “coordination was completely ineffective” and that it operated with “a lack of personnel and equipment”.
The Greek operation to combat the flames was assisted by the European Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism, as well as support from Italy, France, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Jordan, Malta and Romania, Greek Civil Protection Minister Vasilis Kikilias said on social media.
Greece is forecasting temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius in the coming hours, maintaining a very high fire risk in the region for Thursday.
Thirty-seven percent of forests around the Greek capital have been devastated by fires in the past eight years, according to data from the National Observatory in Athens.
Read Also: Fourth day of firefighting continues around Athens
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2615552/bombeiros-conseguiram-controlar-incendio-a-volta-de-atenas
