Greece wildfires: Over 1,150 evacuated near Athens, 4,000 hectares burned, winds hit 130 km/h

Fire engulfs coastal resorts

A wildfire that started Friday near the village of Agios Vasileios in Viotia spread rapidly toward the coastal resort of Porto Germeno, about 70 km northwest of Athens. By Saturday, flames had reached the sea, damaging homes and vehicles. Winds gusting up to 130 km/h, recorded by the National Observatory of Athens' meteo.gr service, made aerial firefighting difficult and forced some helicopters to divert to a separate blaze in the Peloponnese. Over 300 firefighters, supported by 18 planes and 11 helicopters, battled the flames, but the fire's direction remained unpredictable.

The situation is extremely difficult, especially today. We have very strong winds, with gusts exceeding 73 km/h. The direction of the fire cannot be easily determined.

Evacuations by sea

With roads blocked by fire and dense smoke, authorities launched a sea evacuation from Porto Germeno and nearby Agios Vasileios. The operation began around 03:00 on Saturday. Coast Guard vessels, a fire service boat, and private craft evacuated 254 people from the beach at Agios Vasileios, while over 1,150 residents and tourists were moved to safety overall. Evacuation orders were issued via the 112 emergency alert system for Porto Germeno, Psatha, and Mytikas. Some villagers initially ignored the first call to leave, but later had to be rescued by sea. In the village of Livadostra, a medic reported that hundreds of homes and cars had burned, though all residents were saved.

Almost all the houses have been burned. Hundreds of houses, hundreds of cars. Fortunately, the authorities managed to get all the residents out.

National emergency and response

Greece declared a maximum fire risk level (category 5) for Saturday across the Athens metropolitan area, parts of the Peloponnese, Crete, central Greece, and areas near the Turkish border. Over 70 wildfires were active nationwide, with three firefighters having died earlier in the week on Crete and Paros. A separate fire on Friday threatened the western Athens suburb of Chaidarion, prompting a partial evacuation. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had warned on Thursday that the country was heading for "difficult days." Romanian firefighters, prepositioned under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, began operational activities on Saturday after a coordination meeting with Greek and French teams. They remained on standby for immediate deployment.

The damage around Porto Germeno is unimaginable. The affected area appears to exceed 4,000–5,000 hectares.

France and Spain also battle blazes

While Greece faced its worst fires of the summer, France and Spain continued to battle vegetation fires. In France's Gironde region, wildfires that had raged earlier in the week were brought under control, allowing evacuated residents to return. In Le Porge alone, around 150 homes were destroyed. A local resident, Matthieu Plessis, said he no longer recognized the landscape and had lost his home of nearly 20 years, along with his bicycle repair workshop. Spain also reported active fires, though details remained limited. A new fire broke out in southern Bosnia, threatening several neighborhoods.

There are places I don't even recognize anymore. I can pick out a detail here and there, but otherwise everything is unrecognizable. You can't even tell what was here or who lived in that spot.

Outlook

With strong winds forecast to persist and temperatures remaining high, authorities warned that the fire risk would stay extreme on Sunday for Boeotia, Attica, and Evia. The geography of Greece, with its many islands, complicates rapid deployment of firefighting resources. The country, heavily affected by the climate crisis, faces recurring summer wildfires driven by heatwaves and drought. As one local resident put it, "Every summer we wonder if we will be affected by fires or not. We live with this constant fear."