Chalandri: Parked Motorcycle Catches Fire, Flames Spread to Apartment Building – ‘We Were Screaming for Help, We’ll Burn Alive’

“The flames had reached the third floor of the building,” says a resident who extinguished the fire that broke out from a large-displacement motorcycle parked in the ground-floor lobby of an apartment complex in Chalandri. On Thursday evening (October 2, 2025) at around 9:00 PM in the Patima area of Chalandri, on Tinos Street, a residential building narrowly avoided disaster thanks to the quick actions of a tenant who noticed the blaze. Everything began when a strong burning smell started spreading inside apartments. Initially, residents thought the source was external, but minutes later desperate cries for help were heard. Opening the front door, the tenant saw the interior of the building engulfed in flames, with thick black smoke rising toward upper floors. Without hesitation, he rushed to the basement, where he found the fire originating from a large motorcycle parked beneath the staircase. Using three fire extinguishers, he managed to put out the flames before they could spread further. Meanwhile, the stairwell had turned into a chimney, trapping residents across three floors. The situation worsened when power was cut off after the fire damaged the electrical panel located nearby. In footage presented by newsit.gr, taken shortly after the motorcycle was extinguished, the interior of the building shows severe damage from flames and smoke, while the motorcycle itself is completely destroyed. https://www.newsit.gr/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/halandri-video.mp4 “It was wrong for the motorcycle to be parked there—it should have been in the garage,” said the resident. “We were sitting inside our home when suddenly we smelled burning. At first, we went out to the balcony, but the smell persisted. Then it got stronger, and suddenly we heard people screaming, ‘Help, we’re burning alive!’ I was inside with two friends. I opened the door and saw the entire building filled with flames and thick black smoke, and people shouting for help. Without thinking, I ran downstairs until I realized the fire came from under the stairs in the basement, where the large motorcycle was parked. I grabbed three fire extinguishers and put it out. However, tenants on all three floors were trapped—they couldn’t escape because the staircase had become like a makeshift chimney, allowing flames to reach the top floor. Also, the building lost power because the electrical panel was right next to the ignition point, causing a blackout. The fire started from the parked motorcycle; the exact cause remains unknown. If this had happened later, we could have died from fumes. That motorcycle never should have been parked in that spot.” Shortly afterward, firefighters arrived and proceeded to evacuate the trapped residents and inspect the premises. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation, though authorities believe it originated from the parked motorcycle.