Picking through broken glass and twisted metal, Sakis Morfis is looking at what’s left of his home.
He’d lived happily in the little house on the edge of Athens for five years.
But on Monday, a wildfire tore through the suburb of Vrilissia and within minutes, everything Sakis owned was gone.
“A huge flame appeared from behind and everything melted in a minute,” he says, looking at the charred remains of his porch.
“A big flame appeared suddenly and we had to leave. The speed of the wind was very high, you couldn’t do anything.”
Sakis is one of thousands of people forced from their homes by wildfires that burned out of control since Sunday.
Hundreds of firefighters, supported by volunteers and the military, battled hard against walls of flames edging their way into the suburbs of Athens.
The perilous conditions were made even more difficult by gale force winds which whipped up the fires, and tinder-dry land that provided ample fuel.
“This was not a simple fire that unfortunately got out of control; we are talking about the most challenging and dangerous scenario for all firefighters, operational personnel, and residents. This is the reality we faced,” Greece’s climate crisis minister, Vassilis Kikilias, said.
Around the corner from Sakis’ home, a person was confirmed to have died in the blaze.
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Residents told us the body of a local woman was discovered in a building.
“[She was] a friend, a colleague, a good person who worked hard,” says Sakis angrily. “It’s a disgrace what happened. Apart from our property, to lose a human.”
In the hills of Varnavas where the fire started, people share his anger.
Spiros Ilias, a local councillor, tells us the flames broke out at 3pm and by 5pm the water had been cut off along with the power.
They had no way left to save their homes.
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After 40 hours of nonstop firefighting, on Tuesday the authorities announced “there is no active front, only scattered hotspots” left from the Varnavas wildfire.
The clouds of smoke which hung over the capital and darkened the skies above the Acropolis had also mostly cleared.
Firefighters remain stationed on hillsides keeping watch for new flare ups.
With searing temperatures expected to continue until Thursday, the risk of new outbreaks remains.
