ATHENS, July 30 (Bernama-dpa) -- Hundreds of firefighters and volunteers were battling a large forest fire on Tuesday on Euboea also known as Evia, the second largest Greek island, with the blaze nearly impossible to contain due to strong winds, reported German news agency (dpa).
The fire has spread rapidly in impassable terrain, said a fire brigade spokesman. Several villages and towns in the affected region in the southern part of the island were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
More than 200 firefighters and hundreds of volunteers were fighting the flames, the authorities said. In addition to seven firefighting aircraft and four firefighting helicopters, the coastguard was also on-site with a firefighting boat.
The fire on Euboea is just one of more than 50 fires that have broken out in Greece within 24 hours, according to the fire brigade spokesman. However, the fires were quickly brought under control nearly everywhere.
Not so on Euboea.
"We have been used to fires here for many years," the mayor of Kymi-Aliveri, a town hit by the fires, told the newspaper Kathimerini. Residents are hoping the fire will die down. If not the situation could become even more dangerous.
-- BERNAMA-dpa
