Fires across Greece were largely contained on Thursday after leveling swathes of forest and dozens of homes for days, even as a new heatwave loomed, threatening to stoke wildfire conditions across the country. .
A wildfire west of Athens that prompted mass evacuations earlier in the week has been contained, a fire official said. Firefighters remained at the scene, supported by water bombs, in case the flames flared up again.
On the island of Rhodes, firefighters continued to fight a fire that broke out in a densely forested mountainous area and forced people to flee.
The Greek Meteorological Service had warned of an increased risk of wildfires since Thursday as the country recovered from the first major heatwave of the local summer.
A second heat wave was expected to start on Thursday, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in some areas, and rising further on Friday, reaching a high of 44C.
Firefighting land and air forces will continue preventive patrols in Greek forests under challenging conditions, officials said on Wednesday.
Wildfires are common in Greece, but hotter, drier and windier summers in recent years have turned the Mediterranean into a hotbed of wildfires.
Source: Terra
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