Huge forest fire threatens homes near Athens

ATHENS (AFP) - Firefighters on Saturday scrambled to prevent a huge forest fire that has raged for hours in the rural outskirts of Athens and threatened hundreds of homes from reaching the capitals northeastern district.
Fire crews, bulldozers and water trucks formed up on the higher slopes of Mount Penteli east of the capital as the fire crept up a ravine below after burning back and forth through pine forests and farmland during the day.
As authorities declared an emergency, a large force of firefighters fought the fire on several fronts to protect hundreds of rural and summer homes which their residents refused to abandon despite an evacuation order.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said firefighters and volunteers were waging a big and difficult battle under extremely adverse conditions.
The firefighters faced winds up to 49km per hour that regularly changed direction, and only have a few hours to master the fire before their air support is withdrawn for the night, officials noted.
(Without air support), firefighting crews can do little except get burned alive out there, local councils association chairman Dimitris Kalogeropoulos told state television NET.
A force of 160 firefighters with 53 fire engines, 12 water-bombers and seven helicopters assisted by army bulldozers and municipal water trucks had earlier battled the fire in the communities of Grammatiko, Varnavas and Kalentzi, around 40km northeast of Athens.
The communities were spared major damage but the blaze subsequently surged westwards towards Mount Penteli, the last barrier to the furthest reaches of Athens.
The flames also raged in the hills near Marathon, one of the agricultural areas feeding the capital and the main source of its water supply.
Greek media reported that several homes burned down but the fire department could not confirm the reports.
Authorities declared a state of emergency and the fire department ordered an evacuation but television footage showed many residents still defending their homes with water hoses as fire-fighting aircraft dove into neighbouring Lake Marathon to refill their tanks.
The fire comes just two days after another major blaze in the capitals industrial zone.
On Saturday, television footage showed a military truck towing away anti-aircraft missiles. A military barracks is located near the area of the fire.
The blaze broke out on Friday and burned through pine forests in an area with widely dispersed rural and summer homes and greenhouses.
Officials said the fire raged out of control during the night when water-bombers were unable to fly.
With temperatures frequently running above 40 degrees Celsius and seasonal strong winds, Greece is particularly vulnerable to summer fires that claim thousands of hectares of forest and agricultural land.
Other fires raged on the central Aegean islands of Skyros and Evia and the Ionian island of Zakynthos, which has been hit by repeated blazes this summer.
On Thursday a brush fire destroyed at least two factories and a number of containers and trucks in the industrial zone of Magoula, west of Athens, according to local officials.
The Magoula fire also ravaged around 1,000 hectares of forest and brush, media reports said.