Wildfire rages on Greek island Evia, smoke reaches Athens
Greece wildfire
A largewildfirefanned by strong winds burned tracts of pine forest on theGreekofEvia, firefighters said on Tuesday, with evacuation ordered of two villages in the path of the flames.
Wildfires raged uncontrolled in at least four otherGreekregions, and the fire brigade said it had been called to put out 182 fires in the last three days.
More than 227 firemen, aided by five helicopters and six other aircraft, were battling the blaze onEvia, Greece's second-largestisland, where a monastery had already been evacuated.
It generated thicksmokethat blanketed the capital,Athens, some 110 kilometres away.
The villages of Kontodespoti and Makrimalli were being evacuated protectively, a fire brigade official said.
GreekTV showed thick, darksmokeblanketing the area with ash falling kilometres away, blown by strong winds.
A local mayor told state TV ERT thewildfirehad reached home gardens at Kontodespoti.
No fatalities had been reported and the winds were expected to subside in the evening.
Greece often faceswildfires during its dry summer months, and authorities have warned of the high risk of blazes this week.
Environmental campaigners see increasedwildfires around the world as a worrying symptom of global warming.
Last year, awildfirekilled 100 people in the seaside town of Mati nearAthens, and in 2007 fires killed 65, scorched thousands of hectares of forest and farmland and threatened archaeological sites.