Greece fires latest: Flames reach Athens outskirts as blaze triggers explosions at ammunition depot

A wildfire has triggered a series of massive explosions at an air force ammunition depot in central Greece.

The depot was evacuated before the explosions, which shattered windows in the surrounding area.

No injuries were reported, although continued blasts prevented firefighting teams from approaching the site.

Greek state broadcaster ERT said the facility is in the coastal town of Nea Aghialos near the Volos area.

The fire reached the ammunition storage facility about four miles north of the major military air base in Nea Anchialos. Local media reported that bombs and ammunition for Greek F-16 fighters were stored at the site

The fighter jets are reportedly being moved from the air base.

Fire Service spokesman Ioannis Artopios said 12 villages were ordered to be evacuated in the Volos-Nea Anchialos area.

“Despite their superhuman efforts, our forces were unable to stop the blaze,” he said.

He said the blaze was the most dangerous of the 124 wildfires the fire service had to deal with on Thursday.

The wildfire burned on three fronts and forced a section of Greece’s busiest highway to close for several hours while national rail services passing through the area were delayed.

State ERT television showed residents and visitors in the coastal village of Anchialos, close to the blast site, being evacuated by sea while others were leaving in cars and buses.

The mayor of the city of Volos, Achilleas Beos, appealed to all remaining village residents to obey the evacuation order, saying some 80% had left. The coastguard said dozens of residents were taken in small private boats to the city of Volos.

The Nea Anchialos air base is 12 miles from the city, where the blasts were heard loudly. The air force said that while the facility was not immediately threatened, some of the F-16 fighters based there were taking off for other air bases as a precaution.

Climate change journalist Dave Vetter has shared some quotes about the wildfires and their cause and spread.

He described this as a “brief thread of key quotes” from experts on Twitter.

Here are some of those he has picked up.

Prof Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science, Imperial College London: “The combination of heat, wind and people in the Mediterranean is mortal. There have always been wildfires in the South but climate change is making them larger, faster, and harder to stop … “

Dr Thomas Smith, Associate Professor in Environmental Geography, London School of Economics and Political Science: “Human-driven climate change is increasing the likelihood and intensity of heatwaves. This is the second major heatwave in the Mediterranean this year … “

Prof Stefan Doerr, Editor-in-Chief International Journal of Wildland Fire; and Director of the Centre for Wildfire Research, Swansea University: “Focussing mainly on ignition sources (there will always be some) distracts from the main issues … “

Firefighters made a “superhuman effort” but failed to tame the rekindling blazes in the wider area of Volos and in Aghialos, fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios said.

Dozens of firefighters worked in the area, assisted by five aircraft and a helicopter, as strong winds could cause new flare-ups, the fire brigade said.

The labour ministry urged employers in an industrial zone of Volos to suspend operations for a second day on Friday.

On the island of Rhodes, where more than 20,000 tourists and locals fled seaside hotels and houses over the weekend, wildfires have died down after scorching about 10% of the island’s acreage. But teams operated at several sites for an 11th day in an effort to fully tame all the fronts.

Prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday that Greece needed to take more steps to combat the effects of climate change, stressing the need to improve fire prevention further.

Wildfires in Greece abated on Friday after burning for nearly two weeks but emergency services worked to prevent new flare-ups in the central part of the country, where people had fled massive explosions at an ammunition depot the day before.

The blazes, fanned by rising temperatures and strong winds, have killed five people, destroyed homes, farms and factories and scorched swathes of forest land since July 17.

In the hard-hit area of Magnesia, wildfires reached an air force ammunition depot close to the coastal town of Nea Aghialos on Thursday. The blaze at the depot caused powerful explosions and the coast guard said people were forced to escape by land and sea to Volos, the regional capital.

Fighter jets stationed at a nearby military airport were moved as a precaution, a government official said.

The shockwave was felt miles away, causing glass windows of several shops to shatter, locals told Reuters.

“They’ve split open, they peeled off, the panels have fallen, they are split open, only metal is left, the ironwork,” said Dina Angeli, a local resident in Nea Aghialos.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said on Friday he had ordered an investigation into the incident.

A drone’s view of the devastation caused by wildfires on the Greek island of Rhodes, as shared by Reuters.

Conservative MP Jonny Mercer has been accused of playing down the role of climate change in the wildfires spreading across Europe.

The Tory representative for Plymouth Moor View posted a picture of his holiday and said the wildfires were started deliberately.

“It’s hot in Europe, but smashing the mountains with my bro…” he tweeted.

“All that behind me has been destroyed by wildfires started deliberately… brainless stuff. Still, the mountains remain.”

He was met with several responses calling him out for not mentioning the climate crisis.

“#ClimateBreakdown does not start fires but it does make them more likely and more devastating,” Peter Cracknell wrote.

“Oh great, a climate change denier,” Colin Toms wrote.

“Our world is burning before our eyes,” the WWF has tweeted.

“We’re deeply saddened by the wildfires roaring through Rhodes.

“The window for action is getting smaller. Scientists now warn of a 66 per cent chance of passing the 1.5C limit in the next five years.”

Meanwhile, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has hit out at what she feels is a lack of action by government leaders.

She tweeted: “This week, staggering cognitive dissonance has been on display. As wildfires rage, Govt is u-turning on climate policies – ULEZ, energy efficiency, EVs – not advancing them. Why won’t political leaders take #climateemergency seriously?”

A picture of a Greek firefighter rescuing two rabbits and a cat from wildfires is being shared across social media.

Details of the rescue could not be verified any further.

A Twitter user wrote: “Firefighter in Greece rescues two rabbits and a cat from the wildfires that are raging across the country right now.

“Men who rescue animals are the best men.”

The government’s plans to tackle the climate emergency have been thrown into turmoil as Rishi Sunak signalled he could delay or even abandon green policies that put financial pressure on families.

Downing Street has been forced to insist its pledge to reach net zero by 2050 “remains”, but the prime minister’s spokesperson said he is “making sure we listen to consumers and business” and will “continually scrutinise” plans such as the banning of new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030.

As well as their homes and livelihoods, civilian firefighters in Rhodes have been fighting to protect the animals with whom they share the island.

Among them is the Dama-Dama deer, a protected species unique to Rhodes, whom volunteers have been attempting either to rescue or to leave bowls of water and food visibly scattered strategically across the vast areas of scorched earth in the fire-ravaged parts of the island.

One volunteer firefighter , a 45-year-old named Pantelis Saroukos showed The Independent the area near Vati that he – along with many other beekeepers – had brought his hives each summer for the past five years due to the bountiful thyme growing there, until the plants were irrecoverably scorched by the wildfires.

While he had removed his hives before the fire could reach them, a fellow beekeeper several kilometres away near the village of Asklipio had not been so lucky – with the hives visibly licked by flames and a nearby storage shed left crumpled and warped.

“If I was this beekeeper, I would not bring my bees back here ever in my life,” said Pantelis, lamenting that it would take 25 to 30 years for the landscape to regrow, before adding: “Maybe his grandchildren can.”

Some minutes later, he mused: “Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was proud to say no lives were lost before the Canadair crash [near Athens this week].

“But I don’t know if someone told him about the deer, donkeys, tortoises – all the animals. Thousands of animals have been killed.”