By Róise Collins

A DONEGAL woman has spoken of the terrifying moment she was forced to flee her home in Greece as devastating wildfires swept through the city of Patras last week.

Emma Ní Domhnaill, originally from Gaoth Dobhair, was evacuated in the early hours of Wednesday morning after waking up covered in ash and struggling to breathe due to the thick smoke filling the air.

The 26 year old has been living in Greece for the past four years, working at a help desk with the EU Commission.

She first moved to Athens in 2022, where she spent a year before relocating to Patras. That summer, Athens was also hit by devastating wildfires.

“They were very memorable and very tragic, but nothing on the scale of what I experienced in Patras,” she said.

“I have never been so close to such danger in all my life.”

Smoke billows down the mountains towards Emma’s home in Agia Sofia.

Emma lives in a neighbourhood called Agia Sofia, just a short walk from the centre of the country’s third largest city.

She spoke to the Donegal News shortly after the fires were brought under control about her terrifying ordeal.

On the Tuesday afternoon when the wildfires began, Emma was luckily working from home, but the rest of her team were working in the offices which had to be evacuated wildfires had started nearby.

They sent photos and video as the smoke billowed in behind their building.

That night Emma didn’t sleep. She lay awake, terrified, as the electricity flickered on and off and a red glow grew steadily closer to her apartment. She could hear generators exploding nearby.

The flames were accelerated closer to her home by strong winds.

“By 4am I had evacuated my home,” she said.

A terrifying view from Emma’s apartment on Tuesday night.

“I wasn’t sure if the fire was close to my apartment but there was so much smoke and ash was falling down.”

“I was coughing and struggling to breathe. I was alone at that point, so I went to a friend’s house up the road. I finally got to sleep at around 5am, I hadn’t slept at all until then.”

They had to sleep with the doors open, as temperatures remained above 30 degrees and they couldn’t use the air conditioners.

“I woke up an hour later covered in ash,” she continued.

“My eyes were watering from the smoke that had come in. Ash was all over the bed, and the floor was black.

“When I looked out the window, I saw the fire had spread from the hills to the far side of the main road across from where we were staying.”

But it wasn’t just the fire that posed a danger. The air was also thick with pollution.

“There were tyres and cables burning nearby, so we were basically breathing in toxins.”

By Wednesday afternoon, Emma made the difficult decision to leave Patras by ferry to Missolonghi, where she stayed with her boyfriend Nick and his family.

Before fleeing she returned to her apartment briefly to collect what she could, including her passport, just in case.

“As I left I could see all of the fires from the ferry. The whole city was ablaze.”

Emma said she is very aware of her privilege in being able to leave safely, unlike her friends and colleagues who were born and raised in Patras.

Many of their homes and family farms, located in the nearby mountains, were completely destroyed.

Emma spoke of the constant worry, frequently checking group chats to make sure everyone was safe. Some of her friends were working as civil protection volunteers, rescuing people in danger and saving animals.

Emma and her partner Nick.

The youngest of six siblings, Emma comes from a large family in Gaoth Dobhair. They were all deeply concerned as they watched the news unfold from afar

She stayed in regular contact to keep them reassured.

“I tried to keep some of the details from them so they wouldn’t worry too much,” she said.

Despite being far from home, Emma described a strong sense of community in the midst of the devastation, as well as the support she received from her partner’s family in recent days.

She has been using her social media to raise awareness about the devastation caused by the wildfires, encouraging friends and family back home to donate and help replenish resources for those most affected.