The China Mail - New blazes in Greece as strong winds hamper firefighting

Wildfires have flared in several parts of the country this week, including on the popular island of Crete, and three firefighters have so far lost their lives, say Greek officials.

A Civil protection mobile phone alert ordered the partial evacuation of part of Haidari, a suburb west of Athens, after a forest fire broke out on a nearby mountain.

Haidari is about 11 kilometres (seven miles) west of central Athens.

"Four water bombers, five helicopters, and more than a hundred firefighters have been mobilised to fight the fire in Haidari," a fire department spokesperson told AFP.

The latest fire near the Greek capital comes on the fourth consecutive day of fires across the country, particularly on the tourist island of Crete.

"My entire cafe was destroyed, Thrasyvoulos Paterakis, 69, told AFP in the Crete resort of Agia Galini.

"This place supported two families, mine and my son's," he said. "We're now out on the street."

- Strong winds -

On Friday, many parts of the country, faced a "very high" wildfire risk, said Greek civil protection -- the second-highest category. They included the Athens region, Crete, numerous Aegean islands and parts of the Peloponnese.

Winds of up to 88 kilometres per hour (55 miles per hour) were forecast for Friday, disrupting ferry services to popular tourist islands.

"The gusts are literally carrying the fire and spreading it in all directions," Theodore Giannaros, a senior researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, told public broadcaster ERT.

"The strong winds are lifting embers that can spark new outbreaks, sometimes far from the main fire front," he said.

Two separate fires broke out in coastal Viotia, 85 kilometres (53 miles) northwest of Athens.

After summer residents ignored an evacuation order Friday, the coastguard and fire department sent vessels to take them away from the coastal village of Agios Vasileios by sea.

Some 200 people were evacuated to a nearby beach, ANA reported.

Earlier nearly 50 firefighters had halted a fire in the eastern Peloponnese before it reached the prominent Bronze Age archaeological site of Mycenae.

On Crete, about 4,500 hectares (11,120 acres) had been scorched on Wednesday and Thursday south of the tourist town of Rethymno, said the National Observatory of Athens's weather service. It cited an analysis of satellite imagery from the European Union's Copernicus programme.

Strong winds and rugged terrain continued to hamper firefighting efforts, said officials.

A maximum fire risk alert has been issued for Saturday in the greater Athens area, parts of the Peloponnese and Crete, central Greece and the border region with Turkey.

- 'Difficult days'-

Greece geography, with its hundreds of islands, complicates the rapid deployment of emergency responders.

Additional firefighting resources have already been sent to Crete.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Thursday that Greece -- which had been relatively spared from heat waves and major fires earlier this summer, unlike France and Spain -- was headed for "difficult days".

yap-hec-wv-jph/fo/jj

U.Feng--ThChM