Athens [Greece], July 20 (ANI/Xinhua): A massive wildfire broke out Tuesday in the northern suburbs of Athens, damaging homes and forcing evacuations of local communities.
“So far, the operational center of the National Center for Emergency Care has not received calls for injuries or respiratory problems due to the fire,” Fire Service spokesperson Ioannis Artopoios told a televised emergency press briefing.
He said it had been a difficult day, as smoke blanketed part of the Greek capital. After sunset, sparkling flames were visible from Piraeus port and Evia island.
According to Greek meteorologists, strong winds up to 8 on the Beaufort scale hampered firefighting efforts.
In addition, the fire was blazing on two fronts, Greek national broadcaster ERT reported.
Altogether 420 firefighters, 15 waterbombing aircrafts and nine helicopters have joined the rescue operation, Artopoios announced.
Thousands of residents from four communities at the foothills of Pentelikon mountain have been evacuated after their houses were engulfed in flames, said sources with the Fire Service. The exact number of damaged homes is yet unknown.
Greece reports wildfires almost every summer due to heat waves or arsons. Last year, a series of blazes scorched over 100,000 hectares of forests and farmland and damaged some 2,000 homes and businesses in several parts of the country.
In 2018, the country’s worst-ever fire disaster killed 102 people in the coastal resort Mati, near Athens.
This year, under a European pilot program to protect forests from fire, 200 firefighters from six countries across Europe including Bulgaria, France, Germany, Romania, Norway and Finland are positioned in Greece until September to assist in its fire prevention and rescue operations.
Romanian firefighters were battling the blaze alongside the Greeks on Tuesday. (ANI/Xinhua)
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