ACHARNES: Hundreds of firefighters in Greece struggled Thursday to tame major wildfires burning for a sixth day, leaving 20 dead and prompting growing outrage among stricken residents.
A dangerous blaze raged for a second day on Mount Parnitha near Athens, in the largest forest adjoining the capital, threatening a national park.
Fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios said that there was an "explosion of fire" in a forest ravine early Thursday that renewed the threat to inhabited areas.
"The biggest fire fronts are being faced in Parnitha where great efforts are being made to contain it," he said.
In the district of Menidi at the foothills of Parnitha, where many have lost homes, there was anger at the perceived failure of the state to protect properties for yet another summer.
Opposition also blasted the government for what they said was inadequate preparedness and mismanagement.
"We are experiencing days of complete collapse," Stergios Kalpakis, spokesman for the main opposition Syriza party told local radio Sto Kokkino.
The largest fire front was in northern Greece, where a mega blaze that erupted on Saturday near the port city of Alexandroupoli has now spread over 15 kilometres.
The Alexandroupoli wildfires are now the largest in the EU on record for 2023 and the second largest since 2000, according to the EU.
Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said on Thursday that there have been several attempts by arsonists to start new fires on Mount Parnitha since Thursday morning.
"Arsonist scum are setting fires that threaten forests, property and, most of all, human lives," he said in a televised address, adding police and the intelligence service EYP are investigating the incidents.
"You are committing a crime against the country, you will not get away with it, we will find you, you will be held accountable," Kikilias said.
A third large fire was in Boeotia, north of Athens, where a 1,000-year-old UNESCO-listed Byzantine monastery, Hosios Loukas, narrowly escaped destruction on Wednesday.
The greater Athens area -- alongside Boeotia and the island of Evia -- were the Greek regions most at risk of new fire outbreaks Thursday, the civil protection ministry said.
The hot and dry conditions that increase the fire risk will persist until Friday, according to meteorologists. — AFP
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