Forest fire near Athens put out
Forest fire near Athens put out
20 June 2008
published by www.reuters.com
Greece — A forest fire that raged near the Greek capital, damaging holidayhomes, was brought under control late on Friday with no casualties reported,fire fighters said.
“It burned two homes but it is mostly put out,” said a police official.
Scores of firefighters and 12 aircraft battled the blaze, which, fanned bystrong winds, threatened the coastal town of Kalamos, 35 km (22 miles) northeastof Athens.
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze. Eight firefighting planes,four helicopters and 26 fire engines were dispatched to the scene, as well asmore than 100 firefighters.
Last year Greece saw some of the worst forest fires in memory, caused byrecord-high temperatures, drought and arsonists.
Wildfires swept through dozens of villages in the Peloponnese, southern Greece,during a 10-day inferno that killed 65 people and brought the country to a stateof emergency.
