Greek firefighters battled large brush and forest fires on the outskirts of Athens, on the town of Chalkis and in the country's southern Peloponnese region Friday.
The forest fire in the Lakonia area on the tip of Greece's southern Peloponnese grew significantly due to the steep terrain, hot and dry conditions and strong erratic winds which continue to fuel the fire. These variables also play a role in firefighting efforts for both air and ground support.
Three villages were evacuated while a coast guard vessel and other nearby boats were heading to a bay where an estimated 100 people had sought refuge from the flames.
The fire in Chalkis (Chalkida) which is was being fanned by strong winds that forced the evacuation of two villages.
Fires also broke out at the village of Malakassa in East Attica and at Nafplion a seaport town in the Peloponnese.
In the Greek capital of Athens, a large brush fire burned across Hymettus Mountain. The fire is devouring parts of hillsides and is generating a lot of smoke, which is being carried throughout the region.
As the Independent reports:
“Residents wrote on Twitter that people were trying to fight the blaze with their own hoses and buckets of water as it threatened homes, with people already fleeing Heliopolis, at the foot of Mount Hymettus.
The Greek energy minister, Panagiotis Lafazanis, received an angry reception on his arrival in the suburb of Karea, where residents reportedly heckled the politician, telling him to go and put the fire out instead of talking to the television cameras.”
Wildfires are common in Greece during the country's hot, dry summers. More than 60 people died in 2007 when a series of forest fires swept through southern areas, devastating dozens of villages.
Additional reporting by AP