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Thousands flee raging wildfires in Greece

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-24 13:39

ATHENS, Greece: An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

A volunteer tries to extinguish a forest fire in the village of Kato Souli, about 50 km (31 miles) northwest of Athens, August 23, 2009. A huge wildfire fanned by strong winds cut a swathe of destruction near Athens on Sunday, burning houses, razing large patches of forest and sending thousands fleeing their homes, authorities said. [Agencies]

But the winds were forecast to resume by midday, whipping flames up to 33 feet (10 meters) high through highly flammable pine forests.

Fire Brigade officials cautioned that the fires still threatened inhabited areas on the capital's northern fringes, the eastern coastal town of Nea Makri and nearby Marathon - site of one of history's most famous battlegrounds.

"There are fewer hazardous points," Fire Brigade spokesman Yiannis Kappakis said. "But the blaze is still developing."

Several houses have been gutted but there were no reports of deaths or injuries in what the Fire Brigade is calling a "mega-wildfire." There was huge damage to the countryside, however, with thousands of hectares of the area's rapidly dwindling forests gone.

Related readings:  Dozens of wildfires reported in Greece  Forest fire out of control near Athens  Wildfire threatens villages in central Greece  Wildfire rages near Athens

In Nea Makri, south of Marathon, local authorities said a blaze stretching for 2.5 miles (four kilometers) was tearing down a hillside toward some houses, and a dozen nuns were evacuated from a nearby Christian Orthodox convent.

"The situation is tragic right now, there's a huge fire coming our way," Nea Makri mayor Iordanis Louizos said. "There is nothing we can do ... but wait for the (water-dropping) planes at dawn."

Officials said 17 water-dropping planes and helicopters resumed operations at first light Monday, while aircraft from France, Italy and Cyprus were due to join in the effort.

More than 2,000 firefighters, soldiers and volunteers are fighting the blaze on the ground.

Officials have not said what started the fire. Hundreds of forest blazes plague Greece every summer and many are set intentionally - often by unscrupulous land developers or animal farmers seeking to expand their grazing land.

In many afflicted areas, despairing residents pleaded for firefighters and equipment that were nowhere to be seen.

On Sunday, thousands of residents of Athens' northern outskirts evacuated their homes, fleeing in cars or on foot. The fire destroyed several houses as it advanced across an area more than 30 miles (50 kilometers) in circumference.

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