Forest fires in Greece: Firefighters killed, thousands evacuated as fires erupt | world News

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A volunteer firefighter has been killed and thousands of people have been evacuated from an island near Athens as wildfires rage in Greece.

Civil Protection Chief Nikos Hardalias said firefighters faced “extremely dangerous and unprecedented conditions” as they battled 154 forest fires on Friday, 64 of which were still burning at night.

“During the past few days we have been facing an unprecedented situation in our country, in the intensity and spread of wildfires on a large scale, and new outbreaks across (Greece),” he said.

Evacuation orders were issued for dozens of villages on the mainland and the nearby island of Evia, as well as remote settlements on the forest edges of Athens.

Photo: Homes and businesses destroyed in Greece, with thousands evacuated

Homes and businesses have been destroyed, although authorities have not yet been able to provide detailed figures on the extent of the damage.

Changing winds and new flashpoints on Friday afternoon caused the fires outside Athens and Evia to change direction repeatedly, in some cases re-threatening areas that narrowly escaped devastation earlier this week.

Officials said the firefighter was killed after a utility pole fell in his head near Athens.

Photo: A burning car is seen with flames rising during a forest fire near the village of Avidenes, north of Athens

At least 20 people required treatment in hospitals across Greece.

The causes of the fires are under investigation.

Mr Hardalias said three people were arrested Friday – in the greater Athens region, central and southern Greece – on suspicion of fires, in two cases on purpose.

Police said the suspect, detained north of Athens, had started fires in three separate areas in a neighborhood devastated by the massive fire that first broke out on Tuesday.

In the village of Limni in Evia, residents and vacationers were driven to the harbor after all other means of departure were cut off from fire.

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Sky’s special correspondent Alex Crawford speaks from Bodrum, Turkey, where wildfires are burning out of control.

“We are talking about the end of the world and I don’t know how to describe it,” Sotiris Danikas, head of the coast guard in the town of Edipsos in Evia, told state broadcaster ERT.

In Turkey, authorities evacuated six other neighborhoods near the town of Milas in Mugla province where a forest fire broke out about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from a power plant.

Two other neighborhoods were also evacuated as a precaution later in the day, as another fire spread from Yatagan to Mugla.

Officials said at least 36,000 people have been evacuated to safety in Mugla province, and eight people have died in the past 10 days.

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