A firefighting airplane drops water on a hill near the area of Kehries, near Corinth, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Athens, on Thursday July 23, 2020.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
ATHENS (AP) — A drop in high winds late Thursday helped firefighters gain ground on a large wildfire in southern Greece that raged for more than a day, forcing the evacuations of villages and summer camps.
Fire Service chief Stefanos Kolokouris said the blaze east of the town of Corinth was abating. “There is no active front right now,” he told state ERT TV.
Earlier, authorities evacuated one more village and a children's summer camp as a precaution, and 20 water-dropping planes and helicopters assisted more than 300 firefighters on the ground struggling to contain the blaze.
Evacuation orders were issued for a total seven villages and two camps since the wildfire started Wednesday at the seaside settlement of Kechries, more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Athens, and rapidly spread inland.
A burned out house at the village of Galataki, near Corinth, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Athens, on Thursday July 23, 2020. F(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The aircraft withdrew after nightfall since they can't fly in the dark. Firefighters on foot strove to put out scattered small blazes before daybreak, when high winds forecast for Friday could once again whip them up into fast-moving fronts.
The fire burned farmland as well as pine and olive trees and gutted or seriously damaged around 10 homes, local officials said. One fireman was slightly injured.
The Fire Service said a total 72 forest fires broke out all over Greece since Wednesday evening, with most quickly extinguished..
Wildfires are common during Greece’s hot, arid summers. Two years ago, a fire ravaged the seaside resort of Mati, east of Athens, leaving 102 people dead. Massive blazes in 2007 killed about 80 people in southern and central Greece.
STOCKHOLM - A gold sealing ring from the Mycenaean times, depicting a pair of sphinxes, was returned to Greece by the Nobel Foundation, in a ceremony held on Thursday, May 19 in Stockholm, the culture ministry announced.
FALMOUTH, MA – The police in Falmouth have identified the victim in an accident involving a car plunging into the ocean on February 20, NBC10 Boston reported.
PHILADELPHIA – The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Philadelphia and Greater Delaware Valley announced that the Evzones, the Presidential Guard of Greece will be participating in the Philadelphia Greek Independence Day Parade on March 20.
Every weekend, TNH and Clelia Charissis are on a mission, traveling around Greece and the world to highlight places through the people we meet along the way.
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