Greece battles multiple wildfires, evacuates hundreds

Greece on Sunday was battling a spate of wildfires which have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, as experts warn of more extreme weather conditions to come next week.

Firefighters were battling a "dangerous" fire near Athens on Sunday night, with smoke covering parts of the capital in a haze.

By Sunday afternoon, firefighters had quickly dealt with 33 out of the 40 blazes that had broken out in the past 24 hours, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press at an emergency briefing.

But the force was battling seven more in the high Mediterranean summer heat, he said.

The country's minister for civil protection had warned a day earlier that half the country was under a high-risk warning for fires due to high temperatures, wind gusts and drought conditions.

In the region of East Attica, an uncontrolled blaze in the Varnavas area which spread to a pine-forested zone with scattered houses, emitting so much smoke that Athens glowed red at one point, was still raging Sunday night.

Hundreds of people evacuated from at least eight nearby villages, while some were battling to save their houses from the fire by attempting to douse the flames.

"The situation remains dangerous given the fact the fire is raging in an area with houses and has provoked damages," Vathrakogiannis said.

"The strong winds spread it in a flash, creating extreme behaviour, with new fronts behind the containment lines," he added.

Flames 25 metres high

A force of more than 400 firefighters backed by 110 vehicles, 29 firefighting aircraft and helicopters was deployed to battle the flames, which "in many cases reached more than 25 metres high", Vathrakogiannis said.

Firefighters and forest commandos were expected to continue the battle all night long.

In the village of Metohi, which was yet to be threatened, Eugenia told AFP she was afraid of what might happen in the night.

"Every year we have to escape from our houses," she said speaking from the saddle of her motorbike fresh from checking up on her cats.

The fire brigade spokesman stressed that many trapped civilians were rescued because they refused to leave their homes despite the evacuation messages they received.

Giorgos Tsevas, 48, from Polydendri, a village near the firefront that in Greek means "many trees", was desperate: "Everything is burning. I have 200 olive trees there but now they are gone."