Greek mayor accused of arson over wildfire near Athens

Athens - Greek authorities placed a town mayor in pre-trial detention on Aug 7 after charging him with arson over a wildfire that ravaged large areas of forest near Athens last week.

Investigators believe the blaze started with a spark from power cables managed by a private company near Agios Vasileios, a seaside village at the foot of a mountain 85km northwest of Athens.

Fanned by wind gusts of up to 130kmh, the fire quickly spread towards the southern slopes of Mount Kithairon and reached a town about 40km from Athens.

Giannis Apostolou, mayor of the small town of Stylida in a different part of Greece, owns an electrical installation company linked to a wind farm in the affected area. Investigators are accusing him and a contractor of arson and damaging public utilities.

Both men could face more than 10 years in jail if convicted. Greece’s ANA news agency reported on Aug 7 that the authorities had decided to suspend operations at the wind farm, which is on the border between the regions of Boeotia and Attica.

Fanned by wind gusts of up to 130kmh, the fire quickly spread from an overhead medium-voltage power line towards the southern slopes of Mount Kithairon and reached a town about 40km from Athens.

The owner of the wind turbines is accused of failing to clear the vegetation. A fire had already broken out on the same power line on June 27, according to ANA.

At the time of the wind farm’s installation more than 10 years ago, residents had unsuccessfully attempted to block it through legal action.

In addition to the forest, scrubland and olive groves ravaged by the fire, more than 120 buildings and homes were damaged in the seaside resort of Porto Germeno, on the shores of the Gulf of Corinth.

Since the end of July, Greece has suffered dozens of blazes that have left five people dead, including three firefighters.

Two crew members of a helicopter fighting the flames also perished in a collision with another aircraft.

Scientists have long warned that man-made climate change is making periods of extreme heat and drought longer-lasting, more frequent and more intense, creating tinderbox-like conditions for wildfires to spread in. AFP