Hundreds of firefighters struggled to contain a large wildfire that threatened hillside suburbs outside Athens for a second day on Wednesday, after hundreds of residents were evacuated overnight.
Raging wildfires continued to burn throughout the night and into the early morning hours on 20 July in the northeast suburbs of Athens, with firefighters and civil protection services engaged in a desperate battle to control flames that were fanned by gale-force winds with high speed, intensity and constantly changing direction.
The Hellenic Police have carried out 600 evacuations of citizens to safe locations, according to AP. Three planes and five helicopters joined the battle, alongside 485 firefighters, 120 fire engines and 28 ground teams operating below, assisted by volunteer fire fighters, local authority water tanker trucks and heavy machinery.
At least two people were hospitalised with breathing problems and minor burns, while local officials said several houses had been burned in the fire around Mount Penteli, 25 kilometers (16 miles) northeast of the Greek capital.
“The conditions are very challenging. The priority was to safeguard human life, critical infrastructure and private property,” Fire Service spokesman Yiannis Artopios said.
He said winds of up to 80 kilometers per hour (50 mph) were making air support difficult for fire crews, Kathimerini reported.
Greece has avoided the heat wave that is currently afflicting countries in Western Europe, but fire officials say that hot and dry conditions that have lasted for weeks, as well as longer-term temperature rises, have increased the overall risk of forest fires.
Five water-dropping aircraft and four helicopters were operating Wednesday at the fire north of Athens, officials said.
More than 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of land was damaged by wildfires in Greece last year, the worst damage recorded since 2007.
