Greece faced 9,500 forest fires this year, says minister

A man tries to extinguish a fire burning a house as a wildfire burns in Nea Penteli, Greece, Aug 12, 2024. REUTERS/Elias Marcou

About 9,500 forest fires, including one on the outskirts of Athens, consumed nearly 44,500 hectares of land this year, Greece's hottest and driest on record, official said on Tuesday.

Wildfires are common in the eastern Mediterranean country, but hotter, drier and windier weather that scientists link to the effects of fossil fuel-driven climate change has increased their frequency and intensity.

The number of wildfires was up 7.5% this year, compared to the annual average of the previous 20 years, but the destroyed land was 14% less due to immediate response of the authorities, said Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias.

One-third of the forest fires broke out before or after the end of the fire season, which is generally form May to October, he said. "This is something that we will also face in the next coming years," he added in a speech at an event focused on evaluating the fire season.

Greece is on the front line of climate change and has struggled to provide relief and repair damage following destructive floods and wildfires in recent years, which scientists link to global warming linked to the fossil fuel industry.

In 2023, a wildfire burning in northeastern Greece for 11 days destroyed an area larger than New York City, with more that 174,000 hectares wiped out in thousands of fires across the country.