London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Sep 17, 2025

UK sends firefighters to Greece to help the battle against wildfires

UK sends firefighters to Greece to help the battle against wildfires

At least 400 wildfires are raging across the country, which have killed one and injured 20 so far

British firefighters are to be sent to Greece this weekend to lend their support in the battle against wildfires that have spiralled out of control over the past few days.

Teams from Merseyside, Lancashire, south Wales, London and the West Midlands fire services are due to fly out to Athens this weekend, while France said it would provide a further three aircraft and 80 firefighters to join the hundreds that had already been sent.

More than 400 wildfires have broken out across Greece in the last 24 hours, with the island of Evia and areas of the Peloponnese region particularly badly affected.


The home secretary, Priti Patel, who visited Greece earlier this week, said she had asked the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) to deploy specialists who will join the frantic response to the country’s worst wildfires in three decades, which have killed a volunteer firefighter and injured at least 20 people.

In a tweet on Saturday evening, Patel said: “We are sending a team of experienced firefighters to support Greek firefighters currently battling the huge blazes. When I visited my Greek counterparts earlier this week, I saw the devastating effect the fires are having. The UK stands with you.”


Mark Hardingham, the chair of the NFCC, said: “The UK Fire and Rescue Service will be offering support to our colleagues in Greece, along with their communities who need assistance during these devastating wildfires.

“NFCC’s National Resilience function is in place to deploy both in the UK and overseas – and the team is highly skilled at responding to extreme events such as these.

“We can offer professional and technical skills to our fire family in Greece at a time when help is needed; it is ingrained in the professional nature of FRS staff to assist.”

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, tweeted on Saturday: “France stands by Greece, which is suffering greatly from catastrophic fires. After discussion with the Prime Minister [Kyriakos Mitsotakis], 3 Canadairs and 80 French firefighters and rescuers were deployed in Greece [to assist] with urgent procedures. Solidarity, as Europeans, always.”

A Chinook helicopter douses a wildfire in Malakassa, near Athens on Saturday.


A large fire in the northern outskirts of Athens, which was initially believed to be under control but had expanded again on late Thursday

But already erratic winds that had fanned the flames into quickly changing directions were forecast to strengthen, meaning a significant threat remained that the blaze would worsen again.

By Saturday evening fires were burning uncontrollably on Evia, the island east of Athens, where villagers under order to evacuate were calling for planes to airlift them from communities surrounded by flames. Local mayors, echoing the anxiety of panic-stricken residents, blasted authorities for the inadequate help they had received in the face of winds fanning flames across the island.

“There isn’t a village that hasn’t burned in our municipality,” Giorgos Tsapournioti, the mayor of Mantoudi in the island’s fire-afflicted north, told SKAI TV. “More than 400,000 stremmata of forest has been reduced to cinders. For five days I’ve been shouting, constantly appealing for help, and the help we’ve received on land hasn’t been enough, neither of course the assistance by air.”

Further south in the Peloponnese, fires that had previously been brought under control were raging across the region of Ilia where residents were also urged to evacuate their homes. Flames were inching ever closer to the site of ancient Olympia, while villagers in Nemouta were reported to be desperately clearing brushwood and pruning trees in a bid to save their properties from incineration. Firefighters were also battling fire fronts in areas across Arcadia.

On the outskirts of Athens, where blazes appeared to have been tamed north of the capital, residents who had fled infernos earlier in the week were allowed to return to their destroyed homes.

The government, which has vowed to reforest fire-ravaged woodlands, has been putting up victims in hotels.

The unprecedented temperatures that have afflicted Greece, in a prolonged heatwave that began 11 days ago, dropped on Friday, but are set to increase again early next week.

More than 800 firefighters, including support crews from Cyprus, France and Israel, have been fighting the blaze north of Athens, assisted by the army and water-dropping aeroplanes.

“Under no circumstances can we be complacent,” deputy civil protection minister Nikos Hardalias said during an emergency briefing. “We are fighting a very big battle.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
Anesthesiologist Left Operation Mid-Surgery to Have Sex with Nurse
Tens of Thousands of Young Chinese Get Up Every Morning and Go to Work Where They Do Nothing
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
The German Owner of Politico Mathias Döpfner Eyes Further U.S. Media Expansion After Axel Springer Restructuring
Suspect Arrested: Utah Man in Custody for Charlie Kirk’s Fatal Shooting
In a politically motivated trial: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Plotting Coup After 2022 Defeat
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
ChatGPT CEO signals policy to alert authorities over suicidal youth after teen’s death
The British legal mafia hit back: Banksy mural of judge beating protester is scrubbed from London court
Surpassing Musk: Larry Ellison becomes the richest man in the world
Embarrassment for Starmer: He fired the ambassador photographed on Epstein’s 'pedophile island'
Manhunt after 'skilled sniper' shot Charlie Kirk. Footage: Suspect running on rooftop during panic
Effective Protest Results: Nepal’s Prime Minister Resigns as Youth-Led Unrest Shakes the Nation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
King Charles and Prince Harry Share First In-Person Moment in 19 Months
×