The fire that broke out yesterday at noon in the area of Varnavas continues to rage in Attica and with the help of very strong winds of 7 and 8 Beaufort, which have been blowing continuously since yesterday, has created a fire front of more than 20 km.
According to information from the Fire Brigade, the task of extinguishing the fire is very difficult, as the winds are constantly changing direction, while the three main fronts are in the areas of Grammatikos, Penteli and the settlement of Anatoli in Nea Makri.
To extinguish the fire, 560 firefighters and 16 forestry teams with 177 vehicles are currently operating, while 32 aerial means, namely 17 aircraft and 15 helicopters, are carrying out water drops from the air.
Due to the fire, the settlements of Nea and Palias Penteli were evacuated at about 5 am and shortly afterwards the settlements of Drafi, Dioni, Damarasi Rafina, Daou Penteli, Agios Spyridonas and Anatolias Nea Makris were evacuated. At the same time, the Penteli Children's Hospital and the 414 Military Hospital were evacuated, as well as the monastery of Agios Ephraim in the Anatoli area and the Penteli monastery.
The ELAS has so far proceeded to dozens of evacuations of people who were in danger due to the fires, and issued a statement this morning calling on citizens to follow the instructions issued for the evacuation of areas and not to approach the fire-affected areas with their vehicles.
Yesterday a firefighter operating in Marathon was injured and transferred to the medical center of Nea Makri and then to the 251 General Hospital of Aviation, with 2nd degree burns on his hands and feet.
