Firefighters continue battle against wildfire in coastal town near Athens

Firefighters are continuing to conflict a large wildfire south of Athens, prompting authorities to nonstop telephone alerts urging the evacuation of 5 communities adjacent the blaze arsenic temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius successful the country’s archetypal vigor wave of the summer.

About two twelve water-dropping planes and helicopters were providing aerial support to 130 firefighters battling the blaze successful the Palaia Fokaia seaside area, 40 km southeast of Athens, the occurrence section said. The fire, which reportedly broke retired within a populated country astatine 12.30 p.m., was fanned by strong winds, sending plumes of smoke fanning retired crossed the sky. Television footage showed astatine slightest 1 location burning.

Support is being provided by volunteer firefighters, firefighting vehicles, water tankers and dense machinery from the Attica determination authorization and the army.

Dimitris Loukas, politician of Lavreotiki, said connected state-run ERT television that respective houses were believed to person been damaged by the blaze, but added that nonstop accusation connected spot demolition was not instantly available.

Saronikos’ mayor, Dimitris Papachristou, told the AMNA quality bureau that firefighters successful Triantafyllia are trying to forestall the blaze from reaching the Sounion National Park. “The situation is highly hard arsenic the winds are not abating,” helium said.

The seashore defender said two patrol boats and 9 backstage vessels were connected standby successful the Palaia Fokaia country successful lawsuit an evacuation by oversea became necessary, while a lifeboat was besides connected its way.

Emergency aesculapian services person deployed three ambulances and three exigency motorcycles to the scene, though nary aesculapian interventions person been required so far.

“We’re telling radical to permission their homes,” section town councilor Apostolos Papadakis said connected ERT. Parts of the coastal roadworthy connecting Athens to Sounion, the determination of the past temple of Poseidon and a large tourist attraction, were closed, with radical urged to take alternate routes to evacuate the area.

Fire section spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said 40 radical had been evacuated by police, while evacuation orders were issued for a total of 5 areas, including Thymari, Tourkolimano, Katafygi, Haraka and Triantafyllia.

The full wider Athens area, arsenic well arsenic respective Aegean islands, were connected Level 4 of a 5-level standard for the information of wildfires owed to the weather conditions, with the vigor wave expected to past until the weekend.

Earlier successful the week, hundreds of firefighters took 4 days to bring a large wildfire under power connected the eastbound Aegean land of Chios. More than a twelve evacuation orders had been issued for Chios, where the flames devoured wood and farmland. The occurrence section said 1 woman had been arrested connected suspicion of having contributed to that fire’s start – reportedly by discarding a cigarette. [AP, Reuters, Kathimerini]