Greece helicopters crash battling wildfires as search and rescue operation launched

WARNING, DISTRESSING CONTENT: A major search and rescue operation has been launched in Greece after two firefighting helicopter suddenly collided while they were battling the wildfires in Porto Germeno

Two firefighting helicopters have collided on Sunday (August 2) while battling a major wildfire in the Porto Germeno area, west of Athens. Footage appeared to show one of the aircraft crashing to the ground.

Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said. A huge search-and-rescue operation was underway. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews’ condition. However some reports suggest one crew member from one of the helicopters has been found “safe”.

Authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains. Crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation.

The fire began Friday (July 31) near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea Friday and another 12 Saturday – often the last escape route when fire and smoke cut the few roads from coastal communities.

Wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometers (15 to 19 square miles), though authorities had issued no official figure.

Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters battled another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki.

The helicopter collision underscored the continuing danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency. The continent’s crisis split into three stark fronts: strong winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain’s major fires stopped advancing.

The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea.

The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.

Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed in the Peloponnese.

“A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said Saturday. “There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.”

In southwestern France, the Gironde megafire remained held within its perimeter Sunday but continued to burn after scorching 420 square kilometers (162 square miles) of forest in 10 days.

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