File Photo.
Nearly 30 water-bombing aircraft and more than 150 firefighters strove Wednesday to tame wildfires east of Athens, on the nearby island of Evia and in the Thiva area, while civil protection authorities ordered villages evacuated as a precaution.
A blaze burning through scrub near the town of Karystos in southern Evia mobilised 13 water-dropping planes and helicopters, as well as 60 firefighters on the ground. Authorities sent push alerts to phones for residents and visitors to evacuate three villages in the area.
Another 14 aircraft flew sorties to help 76 firefighters battling a wildfire near the village of Mytikas in the Thiva area northwest of Athens, while a third scrub blaze broke out near the town of Paiania just east of Athens, with two helicopters and 32 firefighters sent to the spot.
For Thursday, the Greater Athens region and its immediate surroundings in Attica, as well as southern Evia, the Cyclades and the eastern Aegean Sea islands of Lesvos, Chios, Samos and Ikaria have been ascribed a level-4 wildfire risk in Greece’s 5-notch scale.
