Wildfire raging in Kechries as fire service responds to other blazes

A wildfire that has been raging at Kechries, near Corinth on Wednesday is heading towards the Galataki and Athikia areas, Corinth Mayor Vassilis Nanopoulos told state-run news agency ANA-MPA on Wednesday evening.

The fire brigade evacuated the Athikia settlement and a nearby boarding school as a precaution.

Authorities had also evacuated three settlements – Agios Konstantinos, Galataki and Siemens – and a children's summer camp that were near the fire's path. The residents were taken to a safe location near a coastal zone in coaches or in their own vehicles.

Meanwhile, the fire service reported that besides the blaze's active front there are several scattered pockets of fire, all being fought by some 143 firefighters, 42 fire engines and 4 ground teams; 6 water-dropping aircraft and 8 helicopters have also been deployed.

Fire on Lesvos

A blaze burning in Thermi mountains on western Lesvos island since Tuesday has been contained within a specific area, a Fire Brigade official for the North Aegean said on Wednesday.

The fire broke out near the Monastery of Agios Rafail and burned hundreds of stremmas of pine and olive trees. The Fire Brigade's Regional director, Constantine Theofilopoulos, said the fire was difficult due to winds and in a partly inaccessible area, and must be under observation for several days.

A fireman who was injured on Tuesday was released from hospital on Wednesday, while the North Aegean regional governor called a meeting to assess operations in order to improve future actions.

Fire near Ancient Olympia

Another blaze started on Wednesday afternoon in a forested area in the Lasionos region of Ancient Olympia, in the Peloponnese.

According to the initial information from Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA) sources in the fire brigade, the fire does not currently pose a threat to any inhabited areas.

Thirty-four fire fighters, 14 fire engines and a team of fire-fighters on foot, assisted by local authority water tankers, two fire-fighting airplanes and one helicopter, have been sent to put out the fire.

Fire in Petalidi, Messinia

The situation with the fire in Petalidi, the southwestern region of Messinia, "looks better", the Fire Brigade said on Wednesday. Authorities evacuated the settlement of Mathia earlier in the day for precautionary reasons.

Fifty-one firefighters with 17 fire trucks, 2 ground units, 5 airplanes and 3 helicopters are battling the fire in the area.

Fire in Rethymno, Crete

The wildfire that broke out on Wednesday afternoon in Crete is still only partially contained, according to the authorities.

It started in a plot between two hotels at the Damnoni area, of the municipality of Agios Vassileios of Rethimno, Crete.

Some 30 firefighters with 14 fire engines and one helicopter managed to contain the blaze, assisted by municipal water cannons and Red Cross volunteers.

The fire brigade said there is concern over local high winds that reached 10 on the Beaufort scale.

[ANA-MPA]