![\"a-firefighting-helicopter-drops-water-over-a-smoke-filled-forest-during-a-wildfire-near-porto-germeno-northwest-of-athens-greece-sunday-aug-2-2026-ap-photomichael-varaklas\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785738987_64_.jpeg\")
\n Firefighting helicopter drops water over smoke-filled forest during wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
TWO FIRE HELICOPTERS have collided in Greece as forces battled multiple wildfires that have devastated swathes of land.<\/p>\n
The two-man crew of a firefighting helicopter in Greece were killed in a mid-air collision with another chopper.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pilots\u2026 were taken unconscious to hospital, where their death was confirmed,\u201d the fire department\u2019s director of communications Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a televised address.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has warned of \u201cextremely difficult\u201d days ahead.<\/p>\n
The hired Bell helicopters collided while battling a wildfire in the Psatha area west of Athens, the fire service said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cSearch and rescue teams were immediately mobilised to locate and assist the crews,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
State broadcaster ERT reported that one crewmember had been found safe, while rescuers were searching for the second.<\/p>\n
Television footage showed one of the helicopters explode and plunge to the ground in flames after an apparent rotor collision.<\/p>\n
Mitsotakis earlier said Greece was experiencing \u201cextreme weather conditions\u201d with winds that had reached 100 kilometres an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the winds blow with such force, even the dozens of aircraft we have at our disposal cannot operate safely,\u201d he wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n
\n Firefighting helicopter drops water over smoke-filled forest during wildfire near Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
Nearly 500 firefighters were battling blazes around the popular coastal village of Porto Germeno, 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, the fire department said.<\/p>\n
They were attempting to keep the fire from approaching the western outskirts of Athens after it scaled a mountain overnight.<\/p>\n
Some 100 firefighters were fighting another blaze in Aigialia in the northern Peloponnese.<\/p>\n
A new fire broke out late Saturday on the Ionian Sea island of Cephalonia, Greece\u2019s popular holiday destination.<\/p>\n
A 44-year-old man was arrested Sunday in Cephalonia on suspicion of deliberately starting the fire, according to the Greek news agency ANA.<\/p>\n
The National Observatory\u2019s climate tracker meteo.gr said early estimates indicated that over\u00a06,500 hectares had been burned in separate fires on the Gulf of Corinth which also swept Porto Germeno.<\/p>\n
It added that meteorological conditions remained adverse \u201cmainly due to strong northerly winds, which, however, have partially weakened compared to previous days\u201d.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018Is anyone there?\u2019<\/p>\n
Porto Germeno and other villages were evacuated when the fire broke out on Friday but local authorities say scores of homes were damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could not believe what we were seeing, the fire spread extremely rapidly,\u201d Nikos Georgopoulos from the laboratory of forest management at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, told state TV channel ERT.<\/p>\n
Footage released by Greek police showed officers going door to door in the village of Agios Nektarios, near Porto Germeno, evacuating residents as a wildfire approached.<\/p>\n
Riding motorcycles, officers sounded their sirens and knocked on every door, shouting, \u201cIs anyone there?\u201d<\/p>\n
AFP images showed Greek firefighters battling flames and towering clouds of smoke, while volunteers also helped fight the blaze in the area.<\/p>\n
Minas Tsotdanis, a farmer who lost his home in the blaze, said more than a dozen houses had been destroyed in the village.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if my home had been spared, all I would see would be this: a burned forest,\u201d he told AFP on Saturday, anxiously watching the flames.<\/p>\n
\u2018Megafire\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, fires on the islands of Crete and Paros affected another 6,000 hectares according to meteo.gr.<\/p>\n
Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist and senior researcher at the National Observatory, said the fires around Porto Germeno appeared to have affected an area of over 10,000 hectares \u2014 almost double the original estimate.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is highly likely (if not almost certain) that this particular wildfire will be classified as a megafire,\u201d Giannaros wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n
Firefighters have faced dozens of fires daily and Greece\u2019s Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas on Saturday said the fire department had been \u201cpushed to its limits\u201d.<\/p>\n
Three firefighters died in recent days in the line of duty, two in Crete and one in the Peloponnese.<\/p>\n
Gale-force winds created \u201cextremely difficult conditions resulting in many cases where aircraft either cannot draw water or cannot carry out drops due to extreme turbulence\u201d, Tournas said.<\/p>\n
Though the winds eased late on Saturday, the greater Athens area and nearby Voiotia and the island of Evia were under near maximum fire risk on Sunday, the civil protection ministry said.<\/p>\n
Hit hard by the climate crisis like the rest of the Mediterranean region, Greece is plagued by wildfires every summer due to high temperatures, frequent heat waves and drought.<\/p>\n