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Louise Thomas

Editor

A huge wall of forest fires is raging out of control on the fringes of Athens, forcing hundreds of residents to flee.

Strong winds across the country are reigniting fires and the Greek capital has been left under a haze of smoke and ash. Power cuts were reported in several parts of the city.

The main wildfire was racing through pine forests left tinder-dry by repeated heatwaves this summer.

Authorities were faced with “an exceptionally dangerous fire, which we have been fighting for more than 20 hours under dramatic circumstances”, climate crisis and civil protection minister Vassilis Kikilias said mid-morning on Monday.

The fire was burning mainly on two separate fronts, with some parts in particularly difficult to reach areas on a mountain north east of Athens, Mr Kikilias said.

At least 25 areas were forced to evacuate residents, government officials said, along with at least three hospitals.

Firefighters raced from Athens to nearby Marathon, famous for its journey the other way in 490B, on Monday morning after a night of blazes to the north of Athens.

Where are the fire near Athens?

A children’s hospital and a military hospital, two monasteries and a children’s home were evacuated, while one more hospital was to be evacuated on Monday afternoon.

The fire department said 685 firefighters, backed by 27 teams specially trained to tackle wildfires and including more than 80 armed forces personnel, were battling the flames.

June and July of this year were the hottest months ever recorded in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter ever.

“The wind would go in one direction and then in the other. The smoke was suffocating. You couldn’t see. Your eyes teared up. You couldn’t breathe. You couldn’t see the house,” said Spyros Gorilas, a resident of the area of Dioni who hosed down his house with water to save it from the flames.

“Even the helicopter that dropped water, you couldn’t see it. You could only hear it. Nothing else.”

Evacuation orders were issued throughout the day for yet more Athens suburbs as strong winds continued unabated.

Fire department spokesperson Colonel Vassileios Vathrakogiannis said authorities had been faced with more than 40 flare-ups of the blaze since the early hours of Monday in areas where the flames had somewhat abated.

Neighbouring Romania has sent firefighters to help tackle the blaze.

Three Athens hospitals were on heightened alert. The Athens Medical Association urged residents near affected areas to exercise caution, especially those with chronic conditions, the elderly, pregnant women, young children, and those with respiratory and heart problems.

Greece’s coast guard ordered all ferries going to and from the nearby port of Rafina, which serves mainly the Cycladic islands and Crete, to be diverted to the port of Lavrion due to the fire.

The wildfire began on Sunday afternoon about 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Athens and was fanned by strong winds that quickly drove it out of control.

Other fires are being reported across the country with firefighters tackling a blaze near the holiday island of Lefkada.

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