Fire prevention

Firefighters on Evia are battling two forest wildfires.

Shortly before 8 a.m. fire was noticed in the central Mesochoria area, while another fire broke out in nearby Zarakes about half an hour later.

Fire service officials described the Zarakes fire as more difficult as it is in an inaccessible area.

The repercussions of the fires that have wreaked havoc in recent years in Attica will include reduced water, increased pollution, less biodiversity and a compromised forest ecosystem.

The fire service announced on Thursday that there were 30 wildfires across Greece in the past 24 hours.

According to the fire service, seven of these fires were deemed particularly dangerous and required the assistance of aerial firefighting resources.

Çanakkale, one of the Turkish provinces most afflicted by forest fires this year, found itself once again besieged by flames on Aug. 15, while another inferno raged into its second day in the western city of Manisa.

Despite the well-established doctrine that "fires are extinguished in winter" - through prevention - its implementation has proven ineffective. Fire protection regulations for property owners turned out to be complex and costly. Municipalities undermined these very regulations, claiming they could neither enforce them nor collect the flammable materials.

The taste that always lingers after a disaster is bitter and sour. It's hard to admit that once again, something went wrong and that mistakes and omissions were made. This pattern has repeated itself time and again - in Ilia, Mount Parnitha, Mati, Evia and the Dadia Forest with the wildfires, and in Thessaly with the floods. 

A European Union satellite mapping agency says 104 square km (40 sq. miles) of land was burned northeast of Athens this week during a deadly wildfire that gutted dozens of homes and prompted multiple countries to send assistance.

Sky News Analysis: How Climate Change is Linked to Extreme Wildfires in Greece

The British Sky News published an analysis connecting climate change with large wildfires, such as the recent one in northeastern Attica. According to the report, scientists in Europe are struggling to understand why “extreme” wildfires, like the one in Attica, are becoming more frequent.

Authorities are currently investigating the circumstances under which the large fire in northeastern Attica began.

According to well-informed sources, the most likely scenario being considered is that the fire was caused by a short circuit in power lines in the Varnavas area.

Firefighters battled scattered fires on Tuesday in hopes of containing the remains of a major wildfire that burned into the northern suburbs of Athens, triggering multiple evacuations and leaving at least one person dead.