Deadly Greek wildfire is battled by firefighters as strong winds raise spectre it could spread and could widespread devastation

Hundreds of firefighters battled a deadly wildfire near Athens for a second day on Saturday, with strong winds raising fears it could spread.

A fire department spokesman said more than 260 firefighters with nearly 80 fire engines and 12 aircraft were deployed near Keratea, a rural area some 27 miles southeast of Athens.

‘The fire has weakened but there are still active pockets,’ the spokesman told AFP.

A new fire broke out close to the nearby town of Kouvaras on Saturday but was quickly brought under control.

Dimitris Loukas, mayor of the nearest city of Lavrio, said the Keratea fire that broke out Friday had devastated nearly 10,000 acres of brush and forest.

‘Many homes were destroyed, in addition to other properties, agricultural and forest land,’ he told state news agency ANA.

The National Observatory in Athens on Saturday said the high winds will persist until at least Monday.

Firefighters and police evacuated dozens of people late Friday from homes and an elderly care centre as the flames neared the coastal resort of Palaia Fokaia.

Firefighters later found the remains of an elderly man in a hut near Keratea.

He died in his bed, Loukas said.

 In the municipality of Palaia Fokaia, an hour’s drive south of Athens, a typical bucolic Greek landscape of olive groves and hamlets was transformed by the raging Friday wildfire into a dystopia of blackened land and incinerated homes.

A howling wind ripped through the settlement on Saturday, spread dust and the bitter smell of ash coming from the surrounding hills, where fires and smouldering embers continued to burn.

At one gutted home – its caved-in roof nothing more than a tangle of warped metal – mask-wearing residents returned to retrieve whatever belongings survived the inferno.

A despondent woman named Dimitria was more fortunate: the flames spared her home but razed the nearest forest, leaving it a desolate terrain of roasted trees and ash.

‘From yesterday night, there were very few reinforcements from the fire brigade,’ she lamented, describing how help arrived after the advancing fire threatened ‘many houses’ near the forest.

‘My house is OK, but my forest is burned. And that is the pity,’ she said with a trembling voice, her eyes welling up as she left to survey the damage.

Firefighters with hoses combed through a copse of trees to douse any embers and prevent reactivations, scorched twigs and debris crunching under their boots.

Gale-force winds on Friday also caused the deaths of two Vietnamese tourists who fell into the sea at Sarakiniko beach on the Cycladic island of Milos.

The 61-year-old woman and 65-year-old man were on a cruise ship group visiting the lunar-like, volcanic rock beach, the coastguard said.

A coastguard spokeswoman told AFP the woman had fallen into the water, and the man had tried to help her.

Greece’s national weather service EMY said winds of up to 46 miles an hour were forecast for Saturday.

The weather on Friday disrupted ferry travel for tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers.

A sailing ban on Athens ports was lifted Saturday.

On Friday, wildfires also hit Italy’s Mount Vesuvius, as deadly blazes continued to sweep through Europe amid a scorching heatwave. 

Dramatic footage shows flames engulfing the volcano in Naples as firefighters battle to control them. 

The blaze broke out on Friday afternoon, and firefighting teams both on the ground and in the air rushed to the scene. 

But, as the sun set, the operation was temporarily suspended for safety reasons.

Raffaele De Luca, president of the Vesuvius National Park, expressed his deep concern about the fire’s progress.

‘We are following every update in constant contact with the relevant authorities.

‘Our gratitude goes to those who are working tirelessly to protect our natural heritage and ensure the safety of those who live nearby.’

The devastating wildfires have also struck Turkey, Greece, and France – triggered by hotter and drier conditions.

It also comes after 1,500 tourists and locals were evacuated in Spain as a dramatic forest fire near a beach resort caused chaos in Tarifa, often branded a ‘surfer’s paradise’ due to its extremely wide beaches and tall waves. 

According to the local police, the fire started in a motorhome at the Torre la Peña campsite, which also had to be evacuated.

The flames then blew westward, away from the campsite, and spread rapidly through a hilly and grassland area where homes and tourist establishments are scattered – including the Wawa Hotel, which is reported to have been affected by the fire.

Several beach bars and ‘chiringuitos’ were also evacuated due to the large amounts of ash being carried down to the shore.