To stop wildfires, residents in some Greek suburbs put their own money toward early warning drones

A long-range drone equipped with thermal imaging cameras and a sophisticated early warning system patrols over Kavouri beach and nearby woodland, in southern Athens, Greece. Greece is plagued by hundreds of wildfires each summer. To protect their area from potentially deadly blazes, a group of residents from a suburb in northern Athens have joined forces to hire a company using long-range drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras and a sophisticated early warning system to catch fires before they can spread. — AP

ATHENS, Greece: The nightmare repeats itself every year: A towering wall of flames devours forests, farmland and homes, forcing animals and people to flee for their lives.

With their hot, dry summers, Greece and its southern European neighbours experience hundreds of devastating wildfires each year. Last week alone, wildfires killed 21 people in Greece. The country’s deadliest, in 2018, cost more than 100 lives. And experts warn climate change is likely to exacerbate extreme weather, fueling more wildfires.