Firefighters are focusing on the fire front near the village of Platania on Wednesday evening, in the latest news to come from the large fire burning in central Evia since Tuesday.

The village of Platania was one of four whose residents were evacuated on Tuesday.

In the area, the fire was initially limited to a ravine but was rekindled by strong winds and has extended far more. The area cannot be easily reached by by air difficult because the fire lies at great depth, while thick black smoke has enveloped the area. There are four airplanes and a helicopter fighting it.

At other areas in central Evia, authorities are focused on putting out rekindled fronts.

Thanassis Karakantzas, deputy regional director of Central Greece responsible for civil protection, said earlier in the afternoon that “the battle is not over yet. We remain in position until the last bit stops burning.”

He added that “the Fire Brigade is trying to replace the staff, who have completed over 36 hours at the fire front but retains its preparedness to deal with anything that comes up,” mainly, he said, to limit the fire to its edges and prevent its expansion to villages.

Besides the large contingency of firefighters and trucks in central Evia, the region, army and Larco have contributed heavy earthmoving machines, which remain on standby. They created a fire zone around the town of Psahna on Tuesday night to prevent the fire from moving into the town.

Several agencies were quoted as saying that although it’s too early for a damage assessment, the Natura-included pine forest has been completely destroyed. The burnt area is estimated at between 2,000 and 2,800 hectares of land (20,000-28,000 stremmas).