Faulty power cable may have caused Greece's worst wildfire this year, sources say

By Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis

ATHENS (Reuters) - Investigators suspect a faulty power cable may have caused Greece's worst wildfire this year, said sources close to a probe over the blaze that killed one woman and torched 10,000 hectares near Athens, covering a total area about the size of Paris.

The blaze, which began on Aug. 11, broke out from a forest off Varnavas town, 35 km (22 miles) from the capital and into Athens' northern suburbs, some of which had never seen a wildfire before, within a day.

Authorities have questioned Varnavas residents as part of their investigation into what caused the blaze. A 76-year old man said a wooden electricity pillar outside his home, which had a loose cable fastened to it with a hanger, could have triggered it, officials said.

That scenario was the leading one in the probe, which should be concluded over the coming months, an official with knowledge of the investigation said. Arson was also being considered.

A fire brigade official who declined to be named said an area close to the electricity pole had been determined as the starting point of the blaze.

Wildfires have been a common feature of Greek summers for years, with many attributed to voluntary or involuntary arson, short-circuits or occasionally, to natural causes. The country registered more than 8,000 forest fires in 2023.

In recent years, the risk of such fires has been raised by climate change, which has brought hotter weather and less rain.

A prosecutor has deployed engineers to look into the latest wildfire's cause.

Greece's power network operator HEDNO, said it had found no evidence of a malfunction.

"We have no indication that anything wrong such as a short-circuit happened," an official at HEDNO told Reuters adding that only the relevant authorities were responsible for determining the fire's cause.

Local media cited residents who had heard explosions before the fire broke out. Others said there were initially two fires.

Milder winds have calmed the blaze which covered a distance of 40 kilometres (24.85 miles) before reaching the Athens' suburbs of Penteli and Vrilissia, where one woman was killed.

Still, flare-ups were possible, officials have warned, as winds are expected to pick up again.

Sunday's fast moving fire broke out amid a week-long high fire risk alert due to high temperatures and gale force winds.

Greece had its warmest winter on record this year and was on track for its hottest summer with scant rain in many areas, a recipe for fire disasters, according to firefighters.

"The fire started very far from here, probably from a power line and in no time it burned everything," 78-year old Varnavas resident Giannis Tsiminis told Reuters on Wednesday.

(This story has been refiled to change the attribution to 'sources,' not 'investigators,' in the headline)

(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou; Editing by Bernadette Baum)