Penteli Fire: The dangerous front heading to Dasamari – Rekindlings in Drafi

The residents of Penteli and the surrounding areas where the fire is still blazing are going through hours of torment.

According to the latest information from the Fire Department, the active front of the fire extends from Dasamari to Marathonos Avenue.

As the Fire Department’s communications officer pointed out, in addition to the fronts shown on the map, there is also an active front east of Drafi.

“The situation in the north-east and north side is constantly improving and at the moment there is no active front.”

So far, the death of one citizen has been confirmed, probably by self-inflicted gunshot.

Injuries and hospitalizations

Periodically, 9 aircraft and 10 helicopters operate, while until this morning citizens were being evacuated from the area in an area housing ​​90,000 inhabitants.

In addition to the 3 injured, people with respiratory issues including 3 firefighters were taken to hospital.

Also, fifty people were transferred by ambulance for precautionary reasons to safe places according to Fire Dept. press representative, Yiannis Artopios.

Meanwhile, an alarm was sounded earlier as it seems that the flames reached the Pallini music school.

How the fire started in Penteli

The wind was the reason why the fire that started at 17:19, as can be seen from the image below published by ERT,  very quickly spread to the surrounding areas.

Meteorological forecasts

The following hours will be particularly difficult, with the de-escalation of the phenomena expected starting in the afternoon.

According to  MEGA channel meteorologist Yiannis Kallianos, extinguishing the fire on the fire fronts will not be an easy task for the firefighters with the wind gusts reaching 80 to 85 km/h.

Winds will remain strong, with occasional gusts of 7-8 Beaufort. From the evening there will be a slight reduction of the order of 2 to 3 Beaufort.

Also, an aggravating meteorological element of the next days will be the intensely warm masses that will come, which with the strong winds will be a very dangerous mix indeed.