Greece wildfires abating as firefighters contain outbreaks

Greece on Sunday was still battling wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations across the country, but firefighters have brought many outbreaks under control.

According to the Fire Brigade, 55 new fires erupted in the last 24 hours but 50 were immediately controlled.

Firefighters were working on five major fire fronts late Sunday in the Peloponnese area west of Athens, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythera and Crete.

"Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory," fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis warned Sunday morning, though he added that the situation was improving.

Forecasters predicted that strong winds that have been fanning the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas.

But they warned that Kythera, a popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese, continued to face "worrying" conditions.

Giorgos Komninos, deputy mayor of Kythera, told the state-run ERT News channel that half of Kythera had been charred.

"Houses, beehives, olive trees have been burnt," he said.

ERT reported that a fire was still burning on the island late Sunday, but in smaller fronts and the situation was improving.

Dozens of firefighters supported by three helicopters and two aircraft were battling the Kythera blaze, which erupted Saturday and forced the evacuation of people stranded on a popular tourist beach.

Local authorities have requested a state of emergency so that stepped-up assistance can be provided for the island, which was previously stricken by a major fire in 2017.

The Egnatia highway, a key route across the north of the country, was closed in both directions Sunday afternoon near the inland town of Kozani because of a fire fanned by strong winds, ERT said. Traffic was diverted to an old highway.

'Titanic' struggle

Six regions of Greece will still face a very high fire risk on Monday, according to officials.

Greece requested help on Saturday and two Italian aircraft were expected to arrive Sunday, the fire brigade said. Units from the Czech Republic are already at work.

Numerous flare-ups were reported Sunday afternoon on the island of Evia, near Athens, where flames laid waste to swathes of forest and killed thousands of farm animals.

Workers have toiled throughout the day to repair serious damage to Evia's electricity network and some villages were facing water supply disruptions.

On Crete, reports said fires that started Saturday were now largely contained.

In Kryoneri, north of Athens, police reportedly bolstered security as fears grow that looters could target houses abandoned by residents fleeing a fire that erupted Saturday but which was mostly contained on Sunday.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wrote on social media that anyone who lost possessions "should know that the state will be by their side".

He said the struggle to block the flames on Saturday had been "titanic", but "the picture today looks better and the battle continues with all available resources".

Greece has endured heatwave conditions for a week, with temperatures surpassing 40C degrees (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many areas.

On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece.

On Sunday, the maximum temperature was 42.4C in Thiva, central Greece.

The extreme heat was expected to subside from Monday.

Last month, fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island of Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) of land, while early July a wildfire on Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 people.

Greece, like many countries, is experiencing hotter summers stoked by human-induced climate change, which increases the length, frequency and intensity of heatwaves, which favours wildfires.