Greek authorities have issued new evacuation orders for the village of Psata near Porto Germeno, west of Athens, and seven other nearby areas as a huge forest fire, burning for a fourth day, flared up again, burning homes and devastating one of the few remaining green spaces near the Greek capital, Ekathimerini reports. There were no reports of injuries, but the fire has damaged dozens of homes and destroyed at least 12,600 hectares, mostly forest.
Five people have died in the past few days as Europe's wildfire crisis moves east from France and Spain. The short-term outlook is bleak, with the capital region and surrounding Attica declared a forest fire risk level of 4 on a 5-point scale on Tuesday. The same will apply to the southern part of the island of Evia and the eastern Aegean island of Chios.
According to European Union and Greek data, the once-green western Attica has lost most of its forest cover to wildfires in the past nine years, with more than 52,000 hectares destroyed. The rest of the Athens region, a city of more than 3.6 million people, has also been repeatedly ravaged by fires.
Meanwhile, a new fire broke out on Monday afternoon near Lambeia in the Olympia region of western Peloponnese, mobilizing 77 firefighters with 19 fire engines and seven aircraft. Authorities temporarily closed part of a major regional highway, but no damage to homes was reported.
The government announced rental subsidies of up to 500 euros per month for people whose homes were declared uninhabitable after the recent wildfires. The Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said the temporary housing support program would last for up to two years for owners of primary homes that were declared temporarily unusable or unsafe.