Greece appeals EU assistance to combat wildfire

Athens

Greece appealed for EU assistance Friday to battle wildfires raging on the outskirts of Athens and in the southern Peloponnese region that forced the evacuation of several villages.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he had requested help to fight the fires and announced army and airforce units were being deployed to help douse the flames.

“All firefighting forces, in addition to the army and the airforce, are on alert,” Tsipras told reporters, blaming the outbreak on “emergency weather conditions”.

“We all need to stay calm,” he said.

Greece had asked for four aircraft from Europe, fire department spokesman Nikos Tsongas told a briefing.

Tsipras, fresh from a bruising vote in parliament early on Thursday to approve an unpopular EU-IMF debt deal, was expected to reshuffle his government but such plans have now been pushed back, reports said.

Around 300 firemen with over 100 fire engines, a dozen aeroplanes and six helicopters were trying to hold back the flames on Athens’ doorstep and the Peloponnese, the fire department said.

The fire in Athens broke out on brush land on Mount Hymettus around midday, near the northeastern district of Kareas, and later spread to the outskirts of residential areas. Within a few hours, it had crossed the mountain and was threatening the districts of Ilioupoli and Glyfada close to the Athens coast.