Fleeing fires
August 23, 2009
Earlier, police ordered the 10,000 residents of Agios Stefanos to evacuate the area immediately as flames came dangerously close to the main square.
Fire service and local officials say a number of homes have been destroyed as a wildfire swept through the Athens suburbs of Anthousa and Pallini.
"We face a great ordeal," said Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Saturday after visiting the fire department operations center. He added that fire crews were making a "superhuman" effort.
Greek officials have requested assistance from France and Italy to combat the wildfire.
"Two fire-fighting aircraft from Italy and one from France will be coming today," said a fire department spokeswoman.
Tragic situation
The fires north of Greece's capital have blackening thousands of hectares of rugged land covered by pine forest or thick bushes.
"The situation is tragic," said Yiannis Sgouros, greater Athens' local governor. "Fires are out of control on many fronts."
Nearly 400 firefighters are working to contain the wildfires that appear to have damaged or destroyed scores of summer and rural homes on the east of the Greek capital and further north after surging across a 30-kilometer front on Saturday.
Officials estimate that around 13,000 hectares of land have been devastated.
"This is a very significant environmental disaster, perhaps the gravest in recent years," said Leonidas Kouristhe, the prefect of the greater eastern Athens area to a Greek television station.
So far, no casualties have been reported from the fire which is said to have broken out late on Friday near an area earmarked for a waste disposal facility.´
ch/av/AFP/AP
Editor: Toma Tasovac