MANDRA, Greece — Fast-moving wildfires swept across hills in the searing heat outside the Greek capital on Tuesday, forcing authorities to close highways to help protect an oil refinery.
Water-dropping airplanes and helicopters flew low though a blanket of smoke tinted orange by the sunset to try and contain two wildfires to the west of Athens before nightfall.
The European Union pledged additional assistance, while forecasts indicated more extreme heat was on the way.
Italy and France were each sending two firefighting planes to help Greece cope. The planes and their teams are part of an EU civil protection mechanism, and they will join some 30 Romanian firefighters already stationed in Greece as part of a seasonal EU fire program, European officials said Tuesday.
Fire Service spokesman Vassilis Varthakoyiannis said that the main fire near Athens rapidly became a major crisis. “The Fire Service had to intervene in many instances to get people out of their homes,” the spokesman said.
Officials canceled vacations and leave for firefighters, while Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis cut short a visit to Brussels and returned to Athens to meet with the heads of the Fire Service and Civil Protection Agency.
Wildfires continued to burn out of control Tuesday to the north and west of Athens, including a blaze near the resort town of Loutraki, where more homes were damaged and evacuations were expanded.
A firefighter helicopter dumps water on a fire in Pournari village near Athens, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. In Greece, where a second heatwave is expected to hit Thursday, three large wildfires burned outside Athens for a second day. Thousands of people evacuated from coastal areas south of the capital returned to their homes Tuesday when a fire finally receded after they spent the night on beaches, hotels and public facilities. Credit: AP/Thanassis Stavrakis
In the fire-threatened town of Mandra, west of Athens, police ran through narrow streets to help residents…
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