Large Forest Fire in Kalamos Blazing

Athens.- Two large forest fires broke out at noon Saturday in Kalamos and Lavrio, Attica prefecture, and although the Lavrio blaze has been broken into several smaller fronts the Kalamos fire was still raging on Saturday afternoon, fanned by strong winds.

The Lavrio fire was burning at Punta Zeza, towards Sounion, near several children’s summer camps, including agriculture ministry’s summer camp, which were evacuated for precautionary reasons, although not threatened by the blaze, and traffic has been halted at the 54th kilometer of the Athens-Sounio motorway.

There are scattered houses in the area, but the Fire Brigade told ANA-MPA that the homes are not at threat from the fire at this time. A strong ground force of firefighters with fire engines is battling the blaze, assisted by four water-dropping airplanes and two helicopters.

In a later statement, the Fire Brigade reported that the Lavrio fire has been broken up into small fronts.

The second and more difficult fire, which broke out in a pine forest in the Mikrochori area of Kalamos, was quickly fanned by high winds.

Reinforcements continued to arrive at the Kalamos blaze, where strong force of more than 100 firefighters on the ground, with 32 fire engines and assisted by 11 water-dropping planes and four helicopters, two regiments on foot and 14 water trucks from surrounding municipalities, as well as a strong police contingent, volunteers and local are racing against time to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby Varnava Forest.

The fire is blazing in a ravine between Mikrochori and Varnava, and according to latest reports has reached the yards of residences, though no damage to private property has been reported.

According to firefighters, the Kalamos blaze was burning on two fronts, in the area between Varnava and Kapandriti, and from the shoreline to just four kilometers from Lake Marathon.

A third fire broke out in the early afternoon on the border of Laconia and Messinia prefectures, at Aghios Nikolaos in the Mani. The fire was burning in a farming and forest expanse, with a strong force battling the blaze, assited by two fire-dropping planes.

The fire that broke out at noon Saturday at Punta Zeza in Lavrio had been partially contained at 5:30 p.m., according to latest reports from the Fire Brigade, but strong forces remained at the scene to fully extinguish the blaze.

The major fire that broke out, also at noon, at Kalamos has passed through housing settlements, which have been evacuated, and homes were at risk, while a large expanse of pine forest has already been destroyed.