Η συμπεριφορά της φονικής δασικής πυρκαγιάς της 23ης Ιουλίου 2018 στην Ανατολική Αττική The behaviour of the deadly wildfire of July 23, 2018 in Northeastern Attica, Greece (In Greek with English abstract)

Abstract

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζονται συνοπτικά η χωρική εξάπλωση καθώς και ποσοτικά
χαρακτηριστικά της δεύτερης έως σήμερα, πιο θανατηφόρας δασικής πυρκαγιάς του 21ου αιώνα
διεθνώς και χειρότερης καταστροφής τέτοιου τύπου για την Ελλάδα, που ξέσπασε στην Πεντέλη
στις 23 Ιουλίου 2018. Καθοδηγήθηκε προς την ανατολική ακτή της Αττικής από θυελλώδη άνεμο,
προκάλεσε 102 θανάτους, περισσότερους από 150 τραυματισμούς ανθρώπων, ολική καταστροφή ή
σοβαρές ζημιές σε περισσότερες από 1.650 κατοικίες και έκαψε 1.431 ha αγροδασικής έκτασης και
ζωνών μίξης δασών-οικισμών. Τεκμηριώθηκε λεπτομερώς η συμπεριφορά της και αναδομήθηκε η
χωρο-χρονική της εξέλιξη, αξιοποιώντας κυρίως πρωτογενές φωτογραφικό και μαγνητοσκοπημένο
υλικό και συνεντεύξεις αυτοπτών μαρτύρων. Τα ευρήματα της παρούσας εργασίας μπορούν να
αξιοποιηθούν στην αποτελεσματική ενημέρωση των πολιτών σε θέματα αυτοπροστασίας και να
συμβάλλουν στην εκπόνηση αντιπυρικών σχεδίων.
The deadliest wildfire in Greece so far, and the second one worldwide for the 21st century, erupted
on 23 July 2018, in the Northeastern Attica, Greece and set a new record for fire fatalities in the
country. It was fanned by strong westerly winds, killed 102 people, injured more than 150, and
burned more than 1,650 homes along with 1,431 hectares of agro-forestry vegetation and urbanized
land. By utilizing photographs and video footage of numerous witnesses as well as interviews with
residents, the wildfire behaviour was documented, and its spread was reconstructed. The findings
that came out of the analysis of a huge amount of data, may support or lead to improvements,
regarding fire plans, awareness raising, citizen education, home preparation and community’s
resilience. Furthermore, they may help avoid misconceptions as for the factors that led to disaster or
for the firefighting effectiveness evaluation attempts.

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info@m-athanasiou.gr
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Caballero
Xanthopoulos 1988).
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2009
Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Teague 2010).

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Slength (m), N
Rate of Spread (ROS)
(m·min-1
ROS (m·min-1 Slength (m)
Table 1. ROS (m·min-1) and Slength (m) values of the wildfire spread vectors (see Figure 1)
id ROS
(m·min-1)
Slength
(m) Id ROS
(m·min-1)
Slength
(m) Id ROS
(m·min-1)
Slength
(m)
1 24 49,6 31 39 196,8 61 73 708,7
2 34 97,3 32 63 126,2 62 110 330,3
3 13 48,3 33 101 402,4 63 24 284,0
4 25 220,6 34 42 678,9 64 48 580,3
5 7 69,1 35 130 259,8 65 69 207,6
6 6 72,8 36 42 309,4 66 37 295,6
7 32 761,5 37 58 287,7 67 22 109,0
8 31 340,9 38 114 227,9 68 17 121,5
9 102 307,2 39 21 109,8 69 17 66,2
10 14 100,2 40 30 810,0 70 22 194,2
11 24 171,0 41 38 1513,6 71 8 189,9
12 15 146,5 42 91 365,1 72 21 332,3
13 114 341,1 43 38 2216,7 73 27 228,9
14 93 653,4 44 45 895,1 74 30 347,0
15 66 464,7 45 13 469,1 75 12 454,0
16 18 442,4 46 11 87,0 76 33 398,2
17 26 413,4 47 9 138,1 77 21 253,9
18 19 464,1 48 28 283,9 78 19 225,5
19 14 270,3 49 13 131,8 79 6 327,6
20 77 689,6 50 8 411,9 80 9 529,5
21 79 710,3 51 18 534,8 81 8 123,2
22 49 487,2 52 61 787,6 82 22 262,5
23 23 67,7 53 56 724,1 83 9 580,0
24 39 192,9 54 23 458,2 84 3 173,5
25 58 289,0 55 14 332,3 85 11 132,7

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26 53 480,5 56 6 86,3 86 7 493,3
27 40 427,9 57 41 411,7 87 26 154,1
28 32 334,8 58 39 511,8 88 9 187,5
29 43 145,2 59 31 619,4 89 2 100,2
30 35 442,6 60 22 503,0 90 10 196,2
Slength ROS
m
ha
ROS (m·min-1
ROS ROS ROS
ROS<5 m·min-1 ROS id) 9, 13, 14
(id
. ROS SLength.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics of ROS and SLength
ROS
(m·min-1)
SLength
(m)
ROS
(m·min-1)
SLength
(m)
(Mean) 35 368,7 (min) 2 48,3
S.E.) 3 32,7 (max) 130 2.216,7
(Median) 26 308,3 90 90
(S.D.) 29 309,9
Table 3. Wildfire perimeter and burned area growth, wind speed and direction.
(min)
(m)
(ha)
h-1 -1
16:46
5
451
1
17:10
29
1.397
8
17:19
38
3.657
19
17:40
59
7.093
122
18:15
94
13.116
406
18:35
114
22.367
736
18:45
124
25.019
859

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min
ha
m
id –
NOFFI-OBAM
Figure 1. Wildfire spread visualization through vectors and isochrones. Vectors’ id numbers may be utilized to
spot the ROS and Slength values in the correspondent record of Table 1. The three brown lines are the Neos Voutzas
settlement entrances/exits (Chrysostomou Smyrnis, Isminis and Riga Feraiou, from south to north). Burned area
source: National Observatory of Forest Fires, Burned Area Mapping Service (NOFFI-OBAM).

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m
(min
Figure 2. Correlation of “wildfire perimeter” (m) and “elapsed time from the wildfire eruption” (min) values resulted in
a second order polynomial equation that describes the wildfire perimeter growth rate.
ha
min
Figure 3. Correlation of “burned area” (ha) and “elapsed time from the wildfire eruption” (min) values, resulted in a
second order polynomial equation that describes the burned area growth rate.
m

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1.351 ha
34 C C
FDFMC C
C FDFMC
–
ROS
ROS
ROS
id
.
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gap winds

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Figure 4. A photo taken by a citizen (Dimitris Vakrinos) from point 45, at 18:28, shows a segment of the north flank of the
fire, east of Marathonos Av. The live pine needles do not burn without the influence of wind. Also notice the wildfire spread
vectors and isochrones.
24/07/2018,
).
Figure 5. Between Argyras Aktis (Silver Coast), Panormiton Tinou, and Dimokratias streets, a few pine trees and
ornamental shrubs in yards and fences were neither burned nor scorched. (a: Standing at the coast and looking westwards, b:
In Panormiton Tinou street, looking westwards, c: In Panormiton Tinou street, looking eastwards. Photos taken on July 24,
2018, by the first author).

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Abstract
The deadliest wildfire in Greece so far, and the second one worldwide for the 21st century, erupted on
23 July 2018, in the Northeastern Attica, Greece and set a new record for fire fatalities in the country. It
was fanned by strong westerly winds, killed 102 people, injured more than 150, and burned more than
1,650 homes along with 1,431 hectares of agro-forestry vegetation and urbanized land. By utilizing
photographs and video footage of numerous witnesses as well as interviews with residents, the wildfire
behaviour was documented, and its spread was reconstructed. The findings that came out of the analysis
of a huge amount of data, may support or lead to improvements, regarding fire plans, awareness raising,
citizen education, home preparation and community’s resilience. Furthermore, they may help avoid
misconceptions as for the factors that led to disaster or for the firefighting effectiveness evaluation
attempts.
2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission and Teague, B. 2010. 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal
Commission: final report 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission [Melbourne]
http://www.royalcommission.vic.gov.au/Commission-Reports.
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Xanthopoulos, G., 1988. Greek forest fires and property damage: A brief history. Proceedings –
Symposium and Workshop on “Protecting People and Homes from Wildfires in the Interior West”,
October 6-8, 1987, Missoula, Montana, USA. USDA For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. INT-251: 199-200.
Xanthopoulos, G., Labris, C. and Golfinos, C., 2002. The June 4, 2001 fire in the wildland urban
interface areas of Northern Attica: Evolution, firefighting problems and damages. Proceedings of the
International Workshop on "Forest Fires in the Wildland-Urban Interface and Rural Areas in Europe:
an integral planning and management challenge", May 15-16, 2003, Athens, Greece. National
Agricultural Research Foundation, Institute of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Forest Products
Technology, Athens, Greece: 19-28.

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Xanthopoulos, G., 2002. The forest fires of 1995 and 1998 on Penteli Mountain. Proceedings of the
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