Firefighters battle remnants of deadly wildfire near Athens

  • 2 weeks ago

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Transcript
00:00In the northeast suburbs of Athens, residents returned to their homes and businesses, many
00:06finding nothing but charred ruins.
00:09They had been forced to flee in the face of Greece's worst wildfire this year that came
00:14to within mere kilometers of the capital.
00:17A huge flame appeared from behind and everything melted in a minute.
00:24There was no time to even grab any clothes.
00:26All I have is what I'm wearing.
00:29The fire broke out on Sunday some 35 kilometers northeast of Athens.
00:34Flames of up to 25 meters high, fueled by a tinderbox of pine forest dried out from
00:40multiple heat waves and driven on by high winds.
00:44Those winds have since died down.
00:46Authorities say the fire no longer has any active advancing fronts, with firefighters
00:52now concentrating on putting out the hundreds of slow-burning areas that remain.
00:57Greek firefighters are getting reinforcement from their Turkish counterparts, along with
01:02more than 180 French firefighters, as well as equipment and personnel from around the
01:07EU.
01:08The commission has deployed two firefighting planes from Italy, a helicopter from France
01:14and another helicopter from Serbia.
01:16We are also sending in ground forces from five European countries.
01:22One person, a Moldovan factory employee in her 60s, is known to have died in the blaze.
01:27Summer wildfires are common in Greece, but scientists say climate change is making them
01:32bigger and more frequent.
01:35Dozens of other fires broke out across the country on Monday, with winds expected to
01:39pick up again during the week.

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