Greece wildfire: 400 fight Porto Germeno blaze

More than 400 firefighters, backed by several dozen specialised aircraft, were battling on Saturday to protect Porto Germeno, a coastal resort about 70 kilometres northwest of Athens, as strong winds hampered operations, Greece's fire department said.

Meteo.gr, the weather service of the National Observatory of Athens, said winds of up to 130 kilometres per hour were recorded on Saturday. Giorgos Dasiotis, deputy governor of the affected Voiotia region, told state broadcaster ERT that some aircraft had managed to operate despite the wind, but said changing gusts could alter conditions rapidly.

The fire broke out on Friday near the neighbouring coastal village of Agios Vasileios. Residents initially ignored a civil protection evacuation call, and about 300 people had to be rescued by sea.

Dimitris Pagonis, a senior civil protection official from nearby Mandra, told Skai TV that up to 150 homes in Porto Germeno were believed to have been damaged. Local resident Dimos Economou told AFP that many homes had burned and that, as far as he knew, there had been no fatalities.

Theodore Giannaros, a wildfire meteorologist and senior researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, said the affected area appeared to exceed 4,000 to 5,000 hectares.

Wildfires have flared in several parts of Greece this week, including on Crete and Paros. A maximum fire risk alert was issued for Saturday in the greater Athens area, parts of the Peloponnese and Crete, central Greece and the border region with Turkey.