Greece wildfires force evacuations near Athens

Greece ordered a partial evacuation near Athens on Friday as new wildfires broke out and strong winds hampered firefighting across the country.

A Civil Protection mobile alert ordered the partial evacuation of part of Haidari, a suburb about 11 kilometres west of central Athens, after a forest fire broke out on a nearby mountain.

A fire department spokesperson said four water bombers, five helicopters and more than 100 firefighters had been mobilised to fight the Haidari fire.

Wildfires have flared in several parts of Greece this week, including on Crete, and Greek officials said three firefighters have died.

Greek civil protection said many parts of the country faced a “very high” wildfire risk on Friday, including the Athens region, Crete, numerous Aegean islands and parts of the Peloponnese. Winds of up to 88 kilometres per hour were forecast, disrupting ferry services to tourist islands.

Two separate fires broke out in coastal Viotia, about 85 kilometres northwest of Athens. ANA reported that about 200 people were evacuated to a nearby beach after summer residents ignored an evacuation order and authorities sent vessels to take them away from Agios Vasileios by sea.

In the eastern Peloponnese, nearly 50 firefighters halted a fire before it reached the Bronze Age archaeological site of Mycenae.

On Crete, about 4,500 hectares had been scorched on Wednesday and Thursday south of the tourist town of Rethymno, the National Observatory of Athens's weather service said, citing satellite imagery analysis from the European Union's Copernicus programme.

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.