At least two big wildfires broke out on Wednesday east of Athens, as authorities warned that much of Greece is at an increased risk due to strong winds and high temperatures.
Firefighting forces are battling the blaze in a forest area at the coastal Attica town of Nea Makri and Feriza, near the town of Kalivia, further south.
At Nea Makri, the fire brigade said that that no inhabited areas are endangered for the time being.
12 fire engines with a 41-member crew, three teams of firefighters on foot, two firefighting aircraft and 2 water dropping helicopters are operating in the area.
Στ. Τσίρκας, δήμαρχος Μαραθώνα-Νέας Μάκρης, στο ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ: Άμεση η κινητοποίηση για την #πυρκαγιά στη Νέα Μάκρη, δύσκολη η κατάσταση λόγω των ανέμωνhttps://t.co/zc86yQDI7h
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ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ / The settlement of Feriza and a boarding school in Kalivia, Attica, were evacuated earlier on Wednesday due to the ongoing fire. The thirty children of the school were transferred to a hotel.
“So far there is no report of burned houses in the settlement of Feriza, where the fire has reached,” the press spokesman of the Fire Brigade, Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, said to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency,
The fire brigade operating in the area has been reinforced and in particular there are 40 firefighters with 16 vehicles, 1 ground team on foot, 2 aircraft and 4 helicopters.