Archaeological sites in Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, were on high-risk alert today as wild fires raged across much of Greece, forcing thousands to flee their homes.
More than 170 firefighters, about 50 trucks, six helicopters and water-bombing aircraft were deployed near the ancient site on the Peloponnese peninsula after sudden gusts of wind brought flames to the edge of its grounds.
After destroying about 20 houses yesterday, “the fire’s front is now heading towards Lalas”, a wooded mountainous area to the northwest of Olympia, a local official, Nektarios Farmakis, told the ANA news agency.
Further blazes were reported across the country, including a massive wildfire north of Athens, amid the country’s worst heatwave in more than 35 years.
Water-bombing aircraft resumed operations at first light to try to contain a blaze that has been destroying forests and residential districts north of the capital, forcing thousands to evacuate.
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The aircraft — seven planes and three helicopters — joined more than 700 firefighters, mountain rangers and volunteers who worked through the night tackling a 10km front of flames that rekindled from charred grounds girdling Mount Parnitha, a nature reserve and the largest forest close to Athens.
An estimated 5,000 acres has been razed, scores of houses and businesses destroyed and an uncounted number of animals killed in the blaze that first broke out in the area earlier this week, when temperatures touched 45C, the hottest since 1987.
This week fires also raged across Turkey, Italy and Spain as a regional heatwave caused tinderbox conditions.
In southern Greece nearly 60 villages and settlements were evacuated yesterday and early today, but with strong winds setting in and fanning the inferno, the authorities were today braced for “the worst to come”.
“Our priority is always the protection of human life followed by the protection of property, the natural environment and critical infrastructure. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, achieving all these aims at the same time is simply impossible,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister, said in a televised address.
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Fires were raging on the island of Evia, northeast of Athens, and at multiple locations in the southern Peloponnese region where the blaze threatened the monuments at Olympia.
The town is home to priceless treasures including the remains of an ancient temple dedicated to Zeus as well as the site where games contests were held from 776 BC to 393 AD, inspiring the modern Games.
In Afidnes, the hardest-hit front some 20km northwest of Athens, the authorities today charged into charred grounds to tackle flames that leapt back to life only hours after they had been extinguished.
Locals who remained behind despite evacuation orders were seen running across still-burning fields, carrying water from wells and pools to douse flames and save their homes.
Powerful explosions from power units echoed in the background; also the howling sound of trapped dogs and cats as skies turned red and grey in scenes many locals described as “apocalyptic”.
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With thick plumes of smoke hanging over Athens for a third day, health experts warned of the astonishing amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by the raging infernos, forcing many of the capital’s five million residents to sleep with masks on to avoid the inhalation of poisonous particles in the air.
At least four Athenian districts and a refugee camp have been evacuated in the past 24 hours, forcing out thousands of panic-stricken residents. Across the country more than 250 wildfires have been sparked in recent days, about 100 of them in the last day alone. Of those, 59 remained active this morning, authorities told The Times.
A dozen monks were forcibly evicted after refusing to leave the Saint David Monastery near Olympia, while more than 500 people stranded at a seaside resort were evacuated by sea by the island’s coastguard.
No deaths or serious injuries have so far been reported. Yet Greek scientists said the total destruction in just three days this month in Greece exceeded 50 per cent of the average area burnt in the country in previous years.
An Athens Observatory report said an estimated 6,000 hectares (14,800 acres) went up in smoke between Sunday and Wednesday, compared with 10,400 hectares in the whole of last year.
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The cause of the fires remains unknown, but in some cases arson was suspected. In the northeast region of Ekali, residents said they spotted at least two men trying to spark fires as the late-night inferno raged around Afidnes. An urgent overnight decree has barred people from entering parks and forests until Monday.
“We’re waging a battle of the titans,” Nikos Hardalias, deputy minister for civil protection, told journalists. “The hardest is still to come.”