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Hundreds of firefighters in Greece were being pushed to the limit on Saturday to save a popular coastal resort and other areas as violent winds lashed the country, Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Evangelos Tournas said.
Powerful winds created extremely difficult conditions, resulting in many cases where aircraft either cannot draw water or cannot carry out drops due to extreme turbulence, Tournas said in a televised address.
Nearly 500 firefighters were battling blazes in the area of Porto Germeno on the Gulf of Corinth, some 70 kilometers (45 miles) northwest of Athens, the fire department said.
Around 60 forest and agricultural fires have broken out in the last 24 hours, the department said.
About 100 firefighters were fighting another blaze in Aigialia in the northern Peloponnese, while a separate fire in Phocis, central Greece, was tying down another 64 firefighters.
The fire department's deputy spokesman, Yiannis Artopios, told state TV ERT that the wind was so strong that firefighters on the scene "couldn't even open their vehicle doors."
Although the winds eased later Saturday, the greater Athens area, nearby Voiotia, and the island of Evia were under near-maximum fire risk on Sunday, the Civil Protection Ministry said.
"The fire was too strong, and the wind was too strong. There was nothing you could do, only watch the fire," Minas Tsotdanis, a farmer from the village of Aspra Chomata near Porto Germeno, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"My house burned completely. Around 15 houses were burned. We are waiting for the fire to finish, and then we will go down to see what happened,” he added.
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