Greek firefighting chopper crash kills two as Europe wildfires intensify

Two firefighting helicopters collided over a wildfire west of Athens, killing two crew members. The crash underscored Europe's escalating fire crisis as fierce winds and evacuations stretched responders.

In Short

• Bell firefighting helicopters were operating over Psatha with two crew each
• Gale-force winds blocked seawater pickups and pushed flames towards Megara industries
• Authorities evacuated coastal residents by sea as roads vanished in smoke

Two firefighting helicopters collided in mid-air on Sunday while battling a wind-driven wildfire west of Athens, with one aircraft crashing to the ground, footage showed. Two crew members died in the crash. The dead were one Greek and one Danish national, while the two who were rescued alive were one Greek and one British national.

The crash came as wildfires stretched emergency services across parts of Europe. Strong winds pushed flames deeper into the region of the Greek capital and led to fresh evacuations, France continued to guard a still-burning burn scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain said its major fires were no longer advancing.

The aircraft were Bell helicopters operating over the Psatha area west of Athens, each carrying a two-person crew. Foreign firefighting and helicopter crews are often deployed in Greece during the country’s hot, dry summers. In western Attica, flames spread quickly, threatening communities and an industrial area outside Megara as violent gusts stopped firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea. The fire also revived memories of the 2018 Mati wildfire, which killed 104 people and remains Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.

Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed, but gale-force winds drove flames through dry forest and hampered the response. Authorities ordered evacuations in Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains, and crews were especially worried about Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation. The fire broke out on Friday near Agios Vasileios before spreading 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 that 40 to 50 square kilometres had been affected, though authorities had not issued an official figure.

Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft dropped water over the Ionian island. Firefighters were also battling another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki. Earlier this week, two firefighters died while fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed in the Peloponnese. Local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said on Saturday, "A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire. There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction."

In south-western France, the Gironde megafire remained held within its perimeter on Sunday but was still burning after scorching 420 square kilometres of forest in 10 days. The fire had forced 224,000 people to flee in what may have been France’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime. Hot spots continued to burn within the vast scar, thousands were still unable to return home, and nearly 3,000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde blaze and a second fire in Provence that was still not contained. The Gironde prefecture said, "The fire is now fixed, which does not mean that the fire is extinguished," using the French firefighting term for a blaze whose advance has been stopped.

The Gironde region remained under France’s highest red forest-fire alert, with dry conditions, high temperatures around Bordeaux and afternoon winds raising the risk of fresh flare-ups. 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 operations.

In south-eastern France, nearly 1,500 firefighters were fighting a separate blaze in the Var department that tore through about 18 square kilometres in a little over a day. The Gros Bessillon fire was stabilised on Sunday after its perimeter held overnight, but it remained uncontained. Around 2,500 people were evacuated as flames threatened nearby communities. It was the fourth major fire in 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 Sbastien Lecornu said France’s fires were generally under control but warned that conditions remained volatile. He also appointed a national coordinator to oversee reconstruction in fire-hit areas. More than 1,170 square kilometres have burned across France this year.

In Spain, major fires that are part of a season which has killed at least 13 people, led to the country’s largest recorded wildfire and prompted a national emergency were no longer advancing on Sunday. 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 Snchez has called for a national pact to deal with wildfires, warning that climate change is making them increasingly destructive.

The latest evacuations in France and Spain add to signs of a growing wildfire threat across Europe. The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burned 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 a rapid analysis found that human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year’s French blazes at least twice as likely.

From the helicopter crash over Greece to the vast burn scar in France and guarded fire lines in Spain, Sunday’s developments showed the scale of Europe’s wildfire emergency, with deaths, evacuations and volatile conditions continuing across several countries.

With PTI Inputs

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