(12 Aug 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northern Athens suburbs, Greece – 12 August 2024
1. Close-up of forest fire in distance
2. Helicopter flying over forest fire
3. Wide of forested mountainside with smoke seen rising
4. Helicopter dropping water
5. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Spyros Gorilas, local resident:
"The wind was very strong. Very strong. You couldn’t do anything. I spent all morning hosing down the house. It was the same thing I did two years ago when I saved the house on my own. I did the same thing this year: hosed down the house. And from what Yannis (a nearby resident) tells me, he stayed behind and hosed down his house, and that’s how his house was saved."
6. Various of helicopter filling up with water and taking off
7. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Spyros Gorilas, local resident:
"The wind would go in one direction and then in the other. The smoke was suffocating. You couldn’t see. Your eyes teared up. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t see the house. Our distance from the house is 50 meters, plus 10 for the street, 60 (meters). You couldn’t see this house at that time. Not even the helicopter that dropped water. You couldn’t see it. You could only hear it. Nothing else."
8. Various of helicopter refilling and flying away
9. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Giannis Alvanos, local resident:
"I saw the flames about 150 meters away, and I called the fire service, and thankfully they came today, despite the fact that we left for a while. We came back from backroads because I didn’t want to lose my property for a second time."
10. Various of helicopter filling up with water and flying away
11. SOUNDBITE (Greek) Giannis Alvanos, local resident, explaining how he plans on handling the rest of the summer:
"I will make a big water reservoir. There is no other way. Each house must have a water reservoir. This is (an example of) a directive. Not being told to clear overgrowth on your land. They should tell people to have at least a 30 cubic (meter) reservoir and equipment. Only this way can we save our homes."
12. Close-up of fire on forested hillside
13. Wide of smoke rising from fire
STORYLINE:
Local residents spoke of their experiences on Monday as a major forest fire raged out of control on the northern fringes of the Greek capital.
The fire triggered numerous evacuation orders for Athens suburbs and outlying areas as strong winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of water-dropping planes.
The blaze that began Sunday afternoon was racing through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heat waves this summer. June and July of this year were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever.
“The wind would go in one direction and then in the other. The smoke was suffocating. You couldn’t see. Your eyes teared up. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t see the house," said Spyros Gorilas, a resident of the area of Dioni who hosed down his house with water to save it from the flames.
"Even the helicopter that dropped water, you couldn’t see it. You could only hear it. Nothing else.”
Giannis Alvanos, another local resident, lost his house to a fire two years ago and said he finished reconstruction on his new home just last week.
Police ordered local residents on Monday to evacuate the area, which he did before returning via backroads, to help protect his home.
"I didn’t want to lose my property for a second time," Alvanos said.
He credited firefighers with coming quickly this time. Two years ago they arrived only after the fire had engulfed his house.
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