Greek authorities evacuated houses, children's hospitals and a retirement home Sunday as firefighters backed by water-bombing aircraft battled a raging wildfire threatening Athens' eastern suburbs.
Hundreds were evacuated as the flames, fanned by strong winds, threatened the suburbs of Pallini, Penteli, Dionysos and Stamata, part of a wooded residential area with around 60,000 residents, firefighters said.
"The winds that constantly change direction have rekindled embers in various parts of the fire's perimetre," fire department spokesman Yiannis Kapakis told reporters.
The inferno forced dozens to flee their homes while authorities evacuated patients from two childrens' hospitals, a summer camp and a retirement home as flames and smoke threatened outlying residential districts.
But many home-owners defied the pleas of local officials to leave and stayed behind to fight the inferno -- the worst since wildfires in 2007 that claimed 77 lives -- amid power and water supply cuts.
In Dionysos, whose mayor ordered an evacuation on Saturday, most residents kept a cool head, sweeping away tinder-dry twigs and soaking their homes with garden hoses.
In neighbouring Agios Stefanos, where another evacuation order caused confusion earlier in the day, residents returned to their homes after firefighting aircraft pushed the blaze away.
The minister in charge of police, Christos Markoyiannakis, said every available unit has been thrown into the fray but many residents complained of being left to face the flames alone.
"We have no water and this hydrant is not working, many thanks to our local council that installed it for us to hang our clothes on," one man told Mega television.
"We fought this fire and saved our homes alone," another resident in Koukounari community told state television NET. "The firemen told us to evacuate to avoid getting trapped, and then they left."
Over 600 firefighters, hampered by strong winds and thick smoke, were struggling to halt the wildfire two days after it started Friday despite assistance from a fleet of 12 water-bombing planes and seven helicopters.
Kapakis said two French airplanes and a Cypriot helicopter would join the effort later Sunday, and two more French planes on Monday under a batch of reinforcements sent by the European Union.
Two Italian planes are already operating in the area and Austria has also pledged to send help.
Patients at the Penteli military hospital were evacuated as a precaution and the merchant marine ministry said coastguard vessels were on standby to transport any residents trapped in coastal areas.
Two people were admitted to hospital, one with burns and the other with a heart-related problem, NET reported.
Police called on Athenians returning from holiday to postpone their arrival to avoid clogging roads, while professional football matches, including the clash between AEK Athens versus Olympiakos, were cancelled in the capital.
Around 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of land have been devastated, according to early official estimates, and the blaze is feared to have destroyed or damaged scores of rural and summer homes.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis called an emergency government meeting after overflying the scorched area in a helicopter and President Karolos Papoulias rushed back from vacation.
Karamanlis said the country faced "a great ordeal" and praised the firefighters' "superhuman" effort.
The fire started late Friday in a rural area of Grammatiko, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Athens, that has been earmarked for a new waste disposal facility strongly opposed by local residents.
Strong winds Saturday pushed it back and forth across a forested area scattered with villages.
Firebreaks in the forest on Mount Penteli, the last barrier to the capital, failed to hold back the flames late Saturday when firefighting aircraft were withdrawn for the night.
The wildfire also continued to burn north of Marathon, the main source of Athens' water supply, and forced authorities to relocate missiles and ammunition from a military camp Saturday.
With temperatures running above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and seasonal strong winds, Greece is particularly vulnerable to summer fires that ravage forest and agricultural land.
The fire department said a "gigantic mobilisation" was underway to tackle some 85 blazes nationwide.
Source: AFP Global Edition
