Forest fires in the Mediterranean: fire threatens a town in western Athens

Enlarge image

Fighting the flames: Fire service in Vilia, Greece

Photo: Michalis Karagiannis / imago images / ANE Edition

Firefighters fought an uncontrolled conflagration west of the Greek capital Athens for the third day in a row.

In the afternoon the wind turned and a sea of ​​flames ate its way down from the mountains into lower areas.

The fire threatens houses in the area of ​​the village of Vilia, as TV images showed.

Several helicopters and fire-fighting planes, hundreds of firefighters from Greece and Poland and volunteers continued to try to contain the flames.

People from the village also helped.

The fire had already destroyed a remote house, as can be seen on the TV pictures.

A spokesman for the authorities complained that there were no roads or aisles near the village of Vilia, west of Athens, on which the fire brigade could reach the fires on the high mountains with their vehicles.

As a result, the fires spread again the night the aerial fire fighting stopped, he said.

Other Mediterranean countries are also suffering from forest fires.

France

In the south of France, the fires left two people dead.

In addition, 24 residents and five firefighters were slightly injured, said the prefecture in the Mediterranean city of Toulon.

The flames that have been blazing for two days in the mountainous hinterland of the Bay of Saint-Tropez are not yet under control - and 7,000 hectares of land have already been burned.

As media reported, a 50-year-old man was first discovered dead in his burned-out house.

Emergency forces later found a second body there.

Around 10,000 people, including tourists, were brought to safety in emergency shelters.

A number of campsites have also been cleared.

1200 firefighters fought against the flames, which were repeatedly fanned by the wind.

In addition, over 300 firefighters fought another fire near the southern French wine town of Beaumes de Venise in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

130 people, including tourists, were brought to safety.

Italy

In the southern Italian region of Calabria, another person probably died in connection with the forest fires.

The half-burned body of a 78-year-old was found in the Acquaro municipality on Wednesday night, confirmed the Carabinieri of the neighboring municipality of Aren.

According to the Ansa news agency, investigators are still investigating the circumstances of the death.

Violent forest fires raged in Calabria in the past two weeks.

Four people have already died.

The Aspromonte National Park, among others, was severely affected.

Israel

A massive forest fire west of Jerusalem was extinguished after just under three days.

This was confirmed on Wednesday by a spokesman for the Israeli Minister of Homeland Security, Omer Bar-Lev.

The fire broke out on Sunday and, despite all the efforts of the fire brigade, had initially spread.

bbr / dpa