Wildfires in Greece raze forests

Wildfires burned for a third day west of the Greek capital Athens on Wednesday, destroying forests and homes and spurring evacuations, as authorities braced for a new heatwave that was likely to further stoke tinderbox conditions across the country. At first light, air water bombers resumed operations over the towns of Mandra, west of Athens, and Loutraki, close to the Corinth canal which separates mainland Greece from the Peloponnese. The fire brigade reported that a fresh fire had broken out on the island of Rhodes, burning forestland. Three villages and a hotel in a mountainous area were evacuated, a local governor told Greece’s SKAI TV. The fire was not close to tourist resorts. On mainland Greece, firefighters worked through the night to keep flames at bay and away from a complex of coastal refineries. Flames kept roaring back to life as winds constantly changed direction, and thick smoke blanketed the wider area, state ERT TV said. Authorities ordered the evacuation of three areas, telling residents to head to the town of Megara. Four aircraft sent from Italy and France joined the efforts on Wednesday, authorities said. Firefighters across the country, boosted by crews from Romania, Poland and Slovakia, have been deployed to help battle the blazes. Fires are common in Greece, but hotter and drier summers have turned the Mediterranean into a wildfire hotspot in recent years. Dozens of homes were gutted and hundreds forced to flee towering flames which seared through hamlets on Tuesday.