A large area north of Athens was hit by a serious fire on August 11, 2024, and Greece mobilised a significant air response to tackle the blaze. On the same day, a screenshot from the FlightRadar24 app spread on social media, claiming to show that only five helicopters were deployed to the fire — far fewer aircraft than announced by the authorities. However, the screenshot only shows a single moment of the overall response effort, and the Greek fire service confirmed military aircraft do not show up on the map. AFP journalists at the scene observed aircraft carrying out regular water bombardments.
The fire broke out near the village of Varnavas, north of Athens and reached the northern suburbs of the capital the following day. Authorities evacuated several towns around Athens, as well as hospitals. Meanwhile, the Greek fire service said 702 firefighters and 35 aircraft were battling the flames.
A body was found in a factory that burned down near Athens, and many houses were also engulfed in flames. Greece called on the European Union’s civil protection mechanism. Italy, France, the Czech Republic and Romania announced they would send aid.
The fire burned 10,000 hectares, leaving a visible scar on the landscape (archived here).
In the aftermath of the fire, Facebook users began sharing a screenshot from the live aircraft tracker FlightRadar24, showing a map of the area that was burning on August 12. Five tracking icons of helicopters are visible in yellow, and a timecode of 15:28 UTC is visible in the top right-hand corner of the image.
“In the area of North-East Attica [Athens region] where the universe is burning, at the moment it shows only 4 Erickson helicopters and an Augusta Bell [another type of helicopter], and nothing else, while the fire brigade is talking about 34 aircraft operating”, one user wrote in a Facebook post shared over 2,000 times since. “It cannot be, there must be a mistake, official lips cannot lie to us”, the post adds ironically. A similar map with the same claim was also shared on Threads here.
Users claimed this constituted proof that the authorities were deceiving the public about their efforts to respond.
However, these claims are misleading and lack context. The Greek fire department confirmed to AFP that since some of these aircraft were from the Greek Air Force and Greek Military Aviation, they do not show on civilian mapping tools. Furthermore, the department explained that the aircraft used were constantly going back and forth for fuel or water supply. Finally, photographers, videographers and AFP journalists on site observed aircraft carrying out regular water bombardments.
Screenshots from the misleading Facebook post (left) and the misleading Threads post (right). Images capture: 13/08/2024
Snapshot of a moment
The free FlightRadar24 app uses the ADS-B aircraft monitoring system to position aircraft on its map and observe their flight paths.
The app allows users to observe air traffic over the region, and play back previous flights. At 15:28 UTC on August 12, there were indeed only five helicopters visible on the live map, circulating above the area in flames. However, this does not mean these were the only aircraft responding to the fire that day.
The Greek fire service had announced in a press release that 35 planes and helicopters were operating “periodically” to fight the fire, “including three for coordination” (archived here). The service added that it was important to stress that “the perimeter of the fire is wide, and in many cases the airborne resources are difficult to see due to their dispersion and the dense smoke”.
On August 13, the fire department issued a further press release, detailing the number of aircraft mobilized over the three days of the fire, and giving the times at which 20 aircraft operated between 19:30 and 21:00 (archived here). The service specified that these aircraft operated “in a circle”.
“This means that they were not all operating at the same time, as some were dropping and others were refuelling or being refuelled in order to operate again on the ground,” the statement said.
The timetable shows the types of aircraft used at these precise times, such as the BELL 214 ST, the S-64 AC (operated by Erickson) and the Air Tractor AT-802. These three types of aircraft (here, here, here) were visible on the FlightRadar24 map, over the area affected by the fires before and after the time of 15:28 UTC displayed in the image shared on Facebook.
Other aircraft types mentioned include the CL-215 or CL-415, as well as the Chinook, the first two being operated by the Hellenic Air Force and the third one by the Hellenic Army. These aircraft did not appear on the application.
Contacted by phone on August 13, 2024, the Greek fire service explained to AFP that since these aircraft are operated by military aviation, they would not necessarily appear on a civilian application of this type.
The press officer reiterated that “the aircraft operated periodically and were not all over the fire-affected areas at the same time”.
Lastly, AFP journalists and videographers on site confirmed that they had seen aircraft (both planes and helicopters) bombarding the flames with water several times during the day. An AFP photographer captured the moment when an AT-802 aircraft made a pass and sprayed water, in the Ano Souli area:
This photograph shows a firefighting plane spraying water to extinguish a wildfire in the Ano Souli region in Attica, on August 12, 2024. – Aris Oikonomou / AFP
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Originally published here.
