Sawt Falasteen - Wildfire flares up again in Greece as water bombers deployed

Wildfires that have raged for four days west of Athens remained a threat on Monday, with flames flaring up again despite easing winds and the deployment of firefighting aircraft.

Firefighters reported a slight improvement in conditions earlier in the day, but authorities later warned of fresh flare-ups on one of the main fire fronts near Megara, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) west of the capital.

"The wind has eased in the area, but in Kandyli there are still gusts and currents created by rising hot air, and we are seeing the fire flare up again," Megara mayor Panagiotis Margetis told AFP.

For now, there had been no damage to homes or businesses in the villages of Kandyli and Agia Skepi, around 50 kilometres west of Athens, he said.

But the fire was "constantly changing direction" and moving closer to Megara's industrial zone, creating a "very dangerous" situation, Margetis told state broadcaster ERT.

The fire brigade confirmed that the blaze had intensified on Monday afternoon.

"That is normal because there are still active hotspots," a fire service source told AFP.

-'No reason to let our guard down'-

Earlier, fire service spokesman Yannis Artopios said conditions had improved but warned the danger was far from over.

"If we had to describe the current situation, we would say there has been an improvement, but there is absolutely no reason to let our guard down," he said.

Large areas affected by the fire still contained active or smouldering hotspots requiring constant monitoring, as even a strong gust of wind could trigger fresh outbreaks, he added.

The fire service said 450 firefighters were battling the blaze, supported by 12 helicopters and 16 water-bombing aircraft.

"I would say that it is definitely one of the worst fire crises I've seen in the past, maybe eight to 10 years," Theodore Giannaros, a senior wildfire meteorologist at the National Observatory, told AFP.

Although winds that at times exceeded 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour in the Attica region have largely subsided, temperatures are forecast to rise to 37C on Wednesday, potentially complicating firefighting efforts.

"Fuels will dry out even more," Giannaros said. "That will make vegetation more flammable than it was at the beginning of June."

-'Total disaster'-

On the ground, residents were dismayed Monday by the scale of the disaster, which affected forested and agricultural areas, particularly olive groves.

To date, very few homes have been burned, AFP photographers reported, and the fire has primarily destroyed vegetation on the mountainsides.

"It's a total disaster, what happened is unacceptable," Konstantinos Makrinoris, former mayor of the town of Vilia near Porto Germeno, told AFP.

Other fires across the country, including one on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, had largely been contained, the Greek fire service said.

The wildfires have claimed five lives since last week.

On Sunday, two Bell helicopters collided while carrying out firefighting operations near Psatha.

Greek media reported that a Danish pilot and a Greek co-pilot aboard one helicopter were killed, while the British pilot and Greek co-pilot in the second aircraft were injured and taken to hospital.

Pending the outcome of an official investigation, all Bell helicopters involved in firefighting operations have been grounded, public broadcaster ERT reported.

The deaths followed those of three firefighters who were killed last week while battling separate wildfires in Crete and the Peloponnese.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has warned that Greece faces "extremely difficult" days ahead as high temperatures and dry conditions continue to fuel fires.

More than 12,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land have burned over the past week, according to analyses from the European Union's Copernicus Earth observation programme cited by Greek media.

Like much of the Mediterranean, Greece has experienced increasingly frequent and intense wildfires that scientists link to climate change.

Police have arrested two employees of an electricity utility in connection with one of the fires. Investigators believe the blaze may have been sparked on Friday by an electrical cable near the coastal village of Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth, about 60 kilometres west of Athens.

At the height of the summer tourist season, authorities warned that the wildfire threat would remain "very high" on Monday.

H.Darwish--SF-PST