EU aids Greece in battling wildfires

Greece on Sunday was battling wildfires that have ravaged homes and sparked evacuations, with Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft being deployed to help. Firefighters were working on five fire fronts late Sunday in the Peloponnese area west of Athens, as well as on the islands of Evia, Kythera and Crete.

"Today is expected to be a difficult day with a very high risk of fire, almost throughout the territory," fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said, though he added that the situation was improving.

Forecasters predicted that strong winds that have been fanning the flames would die down on Sunday in most areas.


But they warned that Kythera, a popular tourist island with 3,600 inhabitants, continued to face "worrying" conditions. Evacuation messages were on Sunday sent to people on the island, which lies off the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese.