Intense wildfires fueled by scorching heat ravaged the hills surrounding Athens on Tuesday, prompting highway closures to safeguard an oil refinery and triggering international aid.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting an orange glow on the smoke-filled sky, aircraft and helicopters tirelessly battled two major fires west of the Greek capital.
With forecasts predicting even higher temperatures, the European Union has pledged additional support to combat the blazes.
Italy and France have each committed two firefighting aircraft to assist Greece, joining a contingent of 30 Romanian firefighters already present as part of an EU seasonal fire program. These resources are part of the EU's civil protection mechanism.
Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis described the main fire near Athens as a rapidly escalating crisis, requiring numerous interventions to evacuate residents from their homes.
Wildfires continued to challenge Greek authorities on Tuesday, who worked to prevent the flames from reaching an oil refinery. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Greek authorities have canceled firefighter vacations and leave, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis returned from Brussels to address the emergency with fire and civil protection officials.
The fires continued to burn uncontrollably north and west of Athens, including near the resort town of Loutraki, where further evacuations were ordered due to escalating property damage. In Mandra, police assisted residents in evacuating through smoke-filled streets as the fire advanced. Earlier, police helped evacuate nuns from a threatened monastery.
Several smaller fires erupted closer to Athens, where dry vegetation from last week's heatwave provided ample fuel for the flames, despite moderate winds.
Sections of two major highways connecting Athens to Corinth were closed to facilitate firefighting efforts and protect a major oil refinery from the approaching flames.
Greece has activated an EU satellite-based rapid mapping system to assess the extent of the fire damage.
A second heatwave is anticipated on Thursday, with temperatures in central and southern Greece expected to reach a scorching 44°C (111°F) by the end of the week.
