Last Sunday, Greek fire crews battled a wildfire near two Athens districts for the second day in a row.
Houses and cars were damaged, according to local media, and 65 fire engines and 283 firemen were still on the scene.
Although the fire has calmed down, authorities claimed that it is still blazing. Official damages estimates will be revealed once the fire has indeed been suppressed.
Wildfire in Athens
Milos Bicanski/Getty Images
A wildfire on the outskirts of Athens, Greece's capital, is threatening houses and infrastructure, prompting officials to evacuate some inhabitants, as per The Guardian.
The wildfire has swept across the southern outskirts of Athens, from the foothills of Mount Hymettus, which dominates the city.
The fire has been aided by strong winds.
Damage to electrical wires is a risk, therefore traffic has been directed away from the area.
Some residents in the Voula and Glyfada areas, some 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) outside the city center, have been evacuated.
The fire service stated that more than 100 firemen, supported by six firefighting planes and four helicopters, tackled the wildfire that began about lunchtime in the city's neighborhood of Glyfada.
The fire broke out early Saturday afternoon.
Despite everyone's efforts, several properties were only slightly damaged, but there were no injuries or deaths, Tournas added, noting that 61 fires were reported around Greece on Saturday.
Particularly in hot, dry periods and occasional high gusts, Greece is especially vulnerable to fires all through the summer.
The country's firefighting capacities were taxed by these and other large fires, prompting aid from 24 European and Middle Eastern countries, which supplied planes, helicopters, trucks, and hundreds of firefighters.
More than 200 firemen and technological equipment donated by European Union countries will be dispatched to Greece soon, according to the European Commission, to enable a quick response to significant wildfires.
The government are still in the early stages of summer, and their goal is to mitigate the worst effects of the new phenomena brought on by the climate crisis, according to Christos Stylianides, Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.
Heavy winds and elements sparked a blaze in a southern Athens neighborhood on Saturday, prompting residents to leave and suffering structural damage, according to the fire department, had diminished in intensity as the winds have died down.
The fire was brought under condition overnight by 283 firemen in 65 trucks and groups of spectators.
Early Sunday, two firefighter planes and two choppers would still be in service.
Authorities said no one was hurt, but four additional areas were rescued when the wind shifted and the fire front moved closer to Vari later Saturday evening.
The fire originated at a high voltage electrical power station, according to Giorgos Papanikolaou, the mayor of Glyfada, where it initially broke out.
Last summer, Greece had its worst heatwave in decades, with flames destroying more than 100,000 hectares of forest and farmland, the country's greatest wildfire devastation since 2007.
