A fire broke out shortly before 1pm on Friday (18 September) on a plot strewn with rubbish at the junction of 28th October Street and Stratigou Makrygianni Street in Rentis, with reports indicating that tyres and wooden pallets are also burning. Thick black smoke has engulfed the area, near the Melina Merkouri municipal gymnasium and Allou Fun Park. Warnings not to approach the area until it is under control.

At around 3pm, Greece’s Civil Protection Authority sent a 112 alert to residents of Attica, warning that smoke from the fire in Agios Ioannis Rentis was drifting towards nearby neighbourhoods. “Stay indoors. Shut your windows and doors,” the message read.

Twelve firefighters are at the scene with four vehicles and a specialist aerial-ladder unit. The Municipality of Rentis has also mobilised water tankers to support the Fire Service’s operation. There are concerns the blaze could spread to an adjacent, unmaintained plot with dense vegetation.

Piraeus’s Arson Investigation Unit has been mobilised to look into the cause of the fire.