Athens wildfire turns perilous as firefighting helicopters collide

Two firefighting helicopters collided while battling the wildfire west of Athens as evacuations expanded across Attica. The crash exposed the extreme danger facing crews while Europe remained on edge over worsening climate-linked fires.

In Short

• Search teams were deployed after one aircraft fell during Attica operations
• Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft fought flames threatening Megara communities
• Sea evacuations rescued 266 people as roads closed in smoke

Europe's wildfire emergency remained severe on Sunday, with two firefighting helicopters colliding while battling a wind-driven blaze west of Athens, even as France continued to guard vast burnt areas and Spain's biggest fires stopped advancing.

Each helicopter was carrying a two-person crew, the Greek fire department said, and a search-and-rescue operation was underway after footage showed one of the aircraft crashing to the ground. Authorities did not immediately provide information on the crews' condition. The collision highlighted the risks facing crews as evacuations and firefighting operations continued across the continent.

Greece faced the most immediate danger. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial area outside Megara as violent gusts hampered the response and prevented some aircraft from reaching the sea to collect water. Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed.

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 on Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping towards Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea on Friday and another 12 on Saturday, often the last way out when fire and smoke cut off the few roads from coastal communities. Wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometres, though authorities had issued no official figure.

The danger brought back memories of the 2018 Mati wildfire, which killed 104 people in Europe's deadliest blaze this century. Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters were also battling another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki. 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 on Saturday. "There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction."

The latest evacuations in Greece, France and Spain underlined a growing wildfire threat across Europe. The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burnt in 2025. Over the past four decades, wildfires have been linked to nearly 800 deaths across much of Europe, according to the European Environment Agency. Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent and has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. Scientists at World Weather Attribution said human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year's French blazes at least twice as likely.

In France, the country's largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country's biggest civilian evacuation outside wartime. Hot spots were still burning within a 420-square-kilometre scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.

In southwestern France, the Gironde megafire continued to burn after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest in 10 days. "The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished," the Gironde prefecture said, using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped. The region remained under France's highest red forest-fire alert, with dry conditions, high temperatures around Bordeaux and afternoon winds threatening to rekindle the flames.

In Le Porge, local officials said about 150 homes were destroyed. Mechanic Matthieu Plessis returned on Saturday to the ruins of a house that had been in his family for seven generations. "There are places I don't even recognise anymore," he said. "You don't even know what was here anymore, or who lived where." Firefighters from Ukraine, Lithuania and French Polynesia were expected on Sunday and Monday to reinforce the operation.

In southeastern France, nearly 1,500 firefighters battled a separate blaze in the Var department that tore through about 18 square kilometres in little more than a day. The Gros Bessillon fire was stabilised on Sunday after its perimeter held overnight, but it remained uncontained. About 2,500 people were evacuated as flames threatened nearby communities. It was the fourth major fire to hit central Var since July 19. A smaller blaze near Brignoles earlier in the week forced actor George Clooney and his family, along with about 700 other residents, to evacuate before it was brought under control.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said France's fires were generally under control but warned that conditions remained volatile. He appointed a national coordinator to oversee reconstruction in fire-ravaged areas. More than 1,170 square kilometres have burnt across France this year.

In Spain, the country's major fires were no longer advancing on Sunday. The fires are part of a season that has killed at least 13 people, produced Spain's largest recorded wildfire and prompted a national emergency. In Zamora province near the Portuguese border, more than 20 ground and aerial units guarded the perimeter of the Fermoselle fire against flare-ups in the rugged Arribes del Duero landscape. Most evacuees had returned home, according to local media. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called for a national pact to confront wildfires, warning that climate change is making them increasingly destructive.

While Spain's biggest fires showed signs of easing, Greece remained under acute pressure and France stayed on alert, with the helicopter collision near Athens underscoring the continuing danger of Europe's wildfire crisis.

With PTI Inputs

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