Residents of the historic city of Marathon in Greece are being evacuated from a large forest fire raging in the area, the rescue service announces.
The fire has left parts of the capital Athens under a cloud of smoke.
First, the sparsely populated town of Varnávas, three miles northeast of Athens, was evacuated, where a large fire is raging. Later in the evening, the emergency services announced that the city of Marathon and some suburbs of Athens were also being evacuated.
Over 30,000 residents have been ordered to leave Marathon and head for the coastal town of Néa Mákri.
The smoke from the fire was so strong that in parts of Athens the sky was covered in red-hot smoke. Flames of 25 meters are reported from the fire area.
Winds make it difficult
Strong crosswinds complicate the extinguishing work, according to Kostas Lagouvardos, head of the National Observatory in Athens. At the same time, temperatures of 39 degrees are expected on Monday.
The fire is moving quickly towards a lake which is an important water reservoir for Athens. An unknown number of houses have burned, according to rescue service spokesperson Vassileios Vathrakogiannis in the evening.
Smoke from forest fires is seen at the parliament building in Athens. In parts of the Attica region, residents have been evacuated.
Smoke from forest fires is seen at the parliament building in Athens. In parts of the Attica region, residents have been evacuated.
Photo: Derek Gatopoulos/AP/TT
Over 250 firefighters, 67 vehicles, twelve firefighting planes and six helicopters are fighting the fire in Varnávas. The military is ready to move in.
A fire that started during the afternoon in the historic city of Megara, roughly four miles northwest of Athens, has been partially extinguished.
Burns in several places
In the past 24 hours, the rescue service has managed to put out a total of 33 out of 40 fires, Vathrakogiannis states.
The fire risk is extremely high in half of Greece due to drought and strong crosswinds, Minister Vassilis Kikilias announced on Saturday.
Greece has had the hottest summer in a long time. During both June and July, heat records were broken.