Deadly helicopter crash in Greece exposes growing danger of Europe’s wildfires

The crash at the weekend has underlined the dangers facing emergency crews during an increasingly intense wildfire season across southern Europe, where scientists say climate change is creating longer and more frequent periods of extreme fire weather.

Greek authorities said nine water-bombing aircraft and nine helicopters were supporting around 450 firefighters tackling three difficult fronts at Psatha, Kryo Pigadi and Kandyli, between 45 and 70 kilometres north-west of Athens.

The aircraft had previously been grounded by powerful winds, with gusts reaching between 80 and 130 kilometres per hour around Porto Germeno, a popular coastal resort that has been evacuated since Friday.

Further evacuations were ordered near Kandyli on Monday morning, while the fire risk in the Attica region surrounding Athens and neighbouring Boeotia remained at level four on a five-point scale.

“The fight against the fires is uneven,” Greece's Deputy Minister for Civil Protection and Climate Crisis, Kostas Katsafados, told public broadcaster ERT.

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Fatal collision

The pilot and co-pilot killed on Sunday were a Danish national and a Greek national. They were flying one of two Bell helicopters that collided while trying to extinguish flames near Psatha.

The British pilot and Greek co-pilot aboard the second helicopter were injured and taken to hospital.

All Bell helicopters involved in the operation have been grounded while authorities investigate the collision. The aircraft were leased from Australian company McDermott Aviation, which said it had supported Greek fire-fighting operations for seven years.

Three firefighters were also killed in Greece last week.

More than 12,000 hectares of forest, scrubland and farmland have burned across the country in the space of a week, according to media reports citing analysis from the European Union's Copernicus programme.

Several homes have been destroyed around Porto Germeno, where the population rises sharply during the summer as Athenians return to second homes.

Two electricity company employees have been arrested over the fire, which investigators believe may have been started by a spark from a power cable.

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Fewer fires, greater intensity

The emergency in Greece reflects a wider trend across southern Europe, where the number of summer days with extreme fire conditions has more than doubled since 1981.

A study by atmospheric scientists covering France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece found that such conditions rose from fewer than 10 days per summer between 1981 and 2010 to as many as 25 days between 2016 and 2025.

Researchers attributed the increase to climate change, as heat, strong winds, low humidity and dry vegetation allow fires to spread more rapidly.

Europe now records fewer wildfires than in the 1980s, thanks partly to better-trained crews and improved aerial resources, but the fires that do break out are often larger and more intense.

Scientists warn that successful fire suppression can also leave more dry vegetation to fuel future blazes, while wet winters encourage plant growth that can quickly dry out during summer heat.

“You cannot stop the propagation of fires when the weather conditions are very extreme,” said study co-author Raul Cordero. “It's not a matter of resources.”

(with newswires)