Authorities ordered the evacuation of a handful of communities in central Greece on Wednesday as they battled new fire fronts in the country, supercharged by strong winds and heatwave temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), APA reports citing Reuters.
Sixty-one wildfires erupted across Greece in the last 24 hours alone, the fire brigade said, with the worst outbreaks near the central town of Velestino where officials ordered precautionary evacuations of six nearby communities.
Dozens of firefighters were battling the flames, assisted by 15 fire engines and four aircraft.
A separate wildfire flared near another central town, Lamia, where residents of several settlements were also told to leave their homes.
Fires had largely died down on the Greek island of Rhodes, where more than 20,000 foreign visitors and locals fled seaside hotels and homes over the weekend. Firefighters were still trying to put out a wall of flames close to a mountainous area in Rhodes' south, that has burned uncontrolled for more than a week.
"The battle with the devastating fires continues on several fronts today by all Civil Protection forces in extreme conditions," fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopios said in a briefing. "Today is the most difficult day of this summer."
Artopios said the risk of fire remained "extreme" for several areas of Greece on Thursday.
Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said Greece was experiencing "very dangerous summer days." The fires, he said, were fanned by strong winds and worsened by abnormally high temperatures, kindling fronts stretching for several kilometers (miles).
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