Athens wildfire battle resumes after deadly helicopter crash and fresh evacuations

Athens,UPDATED: Aug 3, 2026 11:50 IST

Hundreds of firefighters were battling a major wildfire west of Athens on Monday, with five water-dropping planes and five helicopters taking off at first light to support the operation. The effort resumed a day after a midair collision between two firefighting helicopters killed two crew members, as flames pushed deeper into the wider Athens region and forced fresh evacuations in the early hours.

Elsewhere in Europe, France's largest wildfire remained contained within its perimeter on Sunday night, though hot spots were still burning. Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and holiday sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across multiple disasters.

In Greece, the two crew members killed in the helicopter collision were a Greek and a Danish national. The crash happened near the seaside area of Psatha while they were tackling the fire, which began on Friday morning. The crew of the second helicopter, a Greek and a British national, were taken to hospital and their injuries were reported to be light. Foreign firefighting and helicopter crews are often deployed in Greece during the country's hot, dry summers.

The blaze spread through pine forests and scrubland over the weekend, driven by gale-force winds that often prevented water-dropping planes from operating. By Monday, the winds had eased, raising hopes that the nearly 500 firefighters at the scene could slow or stop the fire's advance. Authorities, however, warned that the broader Attica region remained at high risk of wildfires because temperatures were expected to rise.

More than 1,000 people have been evacuated from the area, including over 250 who were rescued by boats from nearby beaches. Evacuation orders were issued early on Monday for three more areas, while crews worked to create firebreaks in a forest to help check the blaze.

Greece's firefighting department said on Sunday that the fire appeared to have started from sparks from a faulty power line carrying electricity from a private wind generator facility to the main grid. Two people were arrested: an electrical engineer responsible for designing and supervising the power project, and a contractor involved in building the transmission network. Both face felony arson charges, and authorities had also issued an arrest warrant for the owner of the wind generator company.

Greece faces major wildfires every summer, with hot, dry conditions and often strong winds allowing small sparks to turn into large blazes. Restrictions meant to reduce fire risks, including bans on barbecues and certain outdoor work such as welding and the use of electric power saws, are often ignored. Authorities say most of the hundreds of wildfires recorded in the country each year are caused by negligence. On Sunday, officials also said a man was arrested on Kefalonia on suspicion of starting a fire that spread quickly in the island's south-east and led to the evacuation of nearby villages.

In France, nearly 3,000 firefighters remained deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second blaze in Provence. Although the Gironde fire was held within its perimeter, hot spots continued to burn across a scar covering 420 square kilometres, and thousands of people were still unable to return home after 224,000 were forced to flee in what may have been the country's biggest civilian evacuation outside wartime.

The fires in Greece, France and Spain continued to test emergency services on Monday, even as easing winds in Greece offered some hope of slowing the blaze west of Athens after a deadly day for firefighting crews.

With PTI Inputs

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