Greece wildfires approach military airport in Elefsina

ANKARA

Fires started to approach a military airport Tuesday in the town of Elefsina near Athens, according to public broadcaster, ERT.

A wildfire that erupted during the weekend in northeastern Greece raged for a fourth day with a report of another fire breaking out in a town near t Athens.

Other fires broke out Aspropyrgos, near Athens, according to the fire department.

The second blaze started to approach the airport in Elefsina, and firefighters were immediately deployed to prevent it from reaching the area.

Some residential areas in Aspropyrgos were also evacuated.

Fire department spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told ERT that the brigade has been intervening in 63 separate areas in the last 24 hours.

He added that the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Serbia were set to provide help.

The fumes covered 110,000 square meters (1,184,030 square feet), according to media reports.

More than 60 patients were evacuated from a hospital onto a ferry in Alexandropolis (Dedeagac) early Tuesday, according to the Kathimerini newspaper.

Strong winds are making it difficult to put out the fires, fire brigade spokesperson Ioannis Artopios said late Monday.