Smoke

The first 15 minutes are crucial for responding to a fire that has just started, firefighters say, and a Greek startup now ensures the fire service can have all the information it needs to tackle a flame from the first spark. This is Probotek, the company that for the last three summers has protected the Syngrou forest in Kifissia and is now expanding to Greek islands and abroad.

A fire erupted around 3:00 PM today in a senior care home located in the center of Bankya, Bulgaria, resulting in one fatality and several injuries. The blaze engulfed an entire floor of the building, sending thick smoke billowing over the city. Emergency services, including three fire brigade teams, responded to the scene promptly.

The smoke caused by the fire which broke out in Varnavas on Sunday afternoon in Varnava and quickly spread throughout northeast Attica, reaching toxic levels in the atmosphere, with an adverse impact on the health of people with pulmonary issues.

An image captured by the European meteorological satellite Meteosat-11 shows the extensive dispersion of smoke from the wildfire that has been raging since Sunday afternoon in northeastern Attica.

Processed and distributed by the National Observatory of Athens website, meteo.gr, the image reveals that the smoke has been carried more than 300 km southwest. 

The smell of smoke and soot pervaded Athens, with the sky darkening as a wildfire burned northeast of the Greek capital on Sunday

More than 250 firefighters, 67 fire engines, 12 planes and six helicopters are fighting the fire, which broke out around 3 p.m. local time around 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Athens.

As firefighters battle the blaze at the Varnavas, smoke and ashes from the flames have covered the sky of Attica, creating a dystopian landscape, “drowned” in black.

Smoke from the fire that has been burning central Evia since noon Wednesday has made its presence felt across Attica.

Specifically, a photo posted on social media by IEPVA/EAA research director Dr. Kostas Lagovardos shows the smoke from Penteli.

See the photo:

Smoke is visible from a distance of 30 kilometres - Around 100 firefighters have been deployed - The building has been evacuated - See photos

Several power outages were also reported in nearby buildings.
The London Fire Brigade said in a statement: "Firefighters are currently responding to reports of smoke coming from a building in Warwick Lane".

The adverse  impact on air quality from the wildfires that engulfed different parts of Greece will be protracted, Athanasios Nenes, a professor of atmospheric processes at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, tells Kathimerini.