New blazes in Greece as strong winds hamper firefighting

New wildfires fed by strong winds broke out in Greece Friday, giving firefighters little respite and forcing Civil Protection officials to order the partial evacuation of part of a suburb west of Athens.

Wildfires have flared in several parts of the country this week, including on the popular island of Crete, and three firefighters have so far lost their lives, say Greek officials.

A Civil Protection mobile phone alert ordered the partial evacuation of part of Haidari, a suburb west of Athens, after a forest fire broke out on a nearby mountain.

Haidari is about 11 kilometres (seven miles) west of central Athens.

Haidari Mayor Michalis Selekos said residents had faced a "huge risk" as the fire raced down the mountain, but a force of more than 100 firefighters had managed to contain it in a ravine.

"It was a difficult day, and remains so, but fortunately conditions are milder," he told state TV ERT, adding that most residents had been able to return to their homes.

Over a dozen patients at a local mental hospital were treated for breathing difficulties, the health ministry said.

The fire dpeartment said 51 forest and agricultural fires had broken out in the last 24 hours.

The latest fire near the Greek capital comes on the fourth consecutive day of fires across the country, particularly on the tourist island of Crete.

"My entire cafe was destroyed, Thrasyvoulos Paterakis, 69, told AFP in the Crete resort of Agia Galini.

"This place supported two families, mine and my son's," he said. "We're now out on the street."

On Friday, many parts of the country, faced a "very high" wildfire risk, said Greek civil protection -- the second-highest category. They included the Athens region, Crete, numerous Aegean islands and parts of the Peloponnese.

Winds of up to 88 kilometres (55 miles) per hour hampered water bombers and also disrupted ferry services to popular tourist islands.

Aircraft were "unable to perform water uptake and operate because the gale-force winds create severe turbulence and a serious problem for flight safety," the fire department's communication director Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said in a statement.

"The gusts are literally carrying the fire and spreading it in all directions," Theodore Giannaros, a senior researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, told public broadcaster ERT.

"The strong winds are lifting embers that can spark new outbreaks, sometimes far from the main fire front," he said.

Two separate fires broke out in coastal Viotia, 85 kilometres northwest of Athens.

After people with summer homes ignored an evacuation order Friday, the coastguard and fire department sent vessels to take them away from the coastal village of Agios Vasileios by sea.

Some 300 people were evacuated, a local official said.

Earlier nearly 50 firefighters had halted a fire in the eastern Peloponnese before it reached the prominent Bronze Age archaeological site of Mycenae.

On Crete, about 4,500 hectares (11,120 acres) had been scorched on Wednesday and Thursday south of the tourist town of Rethymno, said the National Observatory of Athens's weather service. It cited an analysis of satellite imagery from the European Union's Copernicus programme.

Strong winds and rugged terrain continued to hamper firefighting efforts, said officials.

A maximum fire risk alert has been issued for Saturday in the greater Athens area, parts of the Peloponnese and Crete, central Greece and the border region with Turkey.

Greece's geography, with its hundreds of islands, complicates the rapid deployment of emergency responders.

Additional firefighting resources have already been sent to Crete.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Thursday that Greece -- which had been relatively spared from heat waves and major fires earlier this summer, unlike France and Spain -- was headed for "difficult days".

Hit hard by the climate crisis like the rest of the Mediterranean region, the country is plagued by wildfires every summer due to high temperatures, frequent heat waves, and drought.