Wildfires near Athens recede as wind eases
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Firefighters battling the wildfires that charred large swathes of forests and forced thousands to flee homes gained the upper hand by Monday afternoon.
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Photo taken on August 24, 2009 shows the fire-stricken mountain in a town in northern Athens, capital of Greece. Greek fire brigade officials on Monday afternoon appeared confident that efforts to extinguish the last remaining wildfires in Attica prefecture would be successful by nightfall, with the emphasis now shifting to preventing any rekindling of fires. [Kostas Tsiolas/Xinhua] |
The declining wind had been helpful and it was hoped that the last remaining wildfires in Attica prefecture would be put out by nightfall, said authorities.
Officials from the Greek Fire Brigade press center told Xinhua that there was no active fire front in Attica on Monday, but firefighters were still on alert for possible flare-ups.
The officials said that the most ominous wildfire still not under control was reported near Mount Kitheronas, where Attica prefecture and Viotia prefecture converge at the Gulf of Corinth. The blaze caused the evacuation of the Porto Germeno resort earlier in the day.
Another wildfire on the island of Chios was under control, while a wildfire at the hilly bushland east of the harbor town of Karystos was still burning.
Government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros, speaking during his afternoon briefing on Monday, said that the picture at the moment is better, but the risk of new flare-ups still exists.
Antonaros said about 150 houses were damaged by the fires. "More than 120,000 stremmas (30,000 acres) have been burnt. It is an ecological disaster," Athens Prefect Yiannis Sgouros told NET TV channel.
The fire broke out late on Friday in the village of Grammatiko 40 km northeast Athens and quickly spread to neighboring areas. The Attica prefecture, which contains Athens and other important cities, declared a state of emergency on Saturday.
Strong winds pushed the fires to residential communities on the suburb of Agios Stefanos, 23 km northeast of Athens, on Sunday.
