On Saturday, a wildfire burned out of control on the outskirts of Athens, burning buildings and cars, according to the Fire Department.
The flame soon spread across the slopes of Mount Hymettus, which overlooks the Greek capital, and sent heavy clouds of smoke over the southern suburbs, fanned by strong winds.
Civil safety authorities evacuated areas of the Voula and Glyfada regions around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Athens’ centre as a precaution.
‘The fire quickly expanded and neared the city due to the high north winds,’ Fire Department spokesperson Yiannis Artopios said in a briefing.
‘We urge our fellow citizens to exercise extreme caution,’ he continued.
More than 130 firefighters, aided by six firefighting aircraft and four helicopters, dumped tonnes of water in an attempt to put out the fire, which had been raging for more than seven hours.
During the country’s worst heatwave in 30 years, flames destroyed roughly 300,000 acres of forest and bushland in various parts of Greece last summer.
The country is still reeling after a fire that ripped through the beach village of Mati near Athens in 2018, killing 102 people in a couple of hours.
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