One dead in Greek forest fires fanned by gale force winds

ATHENS (Reuters) – A man was killed on Friday when several forest fires, fanned by gale-force winds, ravaged the southern tip of Greece and forced evacuations, firefighters said.

The 55-year-old man was injured in a fire in the Ilia region of the Peloponnese peninsula and died in a hospital, a fire official said.

About 120 firefighters, assisted by dozens of engines, were deployed to contain the forest fires in the Achaia region, which quickly spread to the nearby district of Ilia and raged uncontrollably.

“All armed forces are making a superhuman effort to tame them,” Greek fire brigade spokesman Vasilis Vatrakogiannis said amid winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour as about 45 forest fires broke out in the country within a few hours.

Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean but have become more devastating as summers have become hotter, drier and windier, which scientists link to climate change.

Residents of several villages in the fire-hit areas were told to flee their homes, while some used small buckets to help in the firefighting efforts.

Greek television showed the interior of a stone house destroyed by fire.

Civil protection forces are on alert as the risk of forest fires remains high on Saturday, Vathrakogiannis told a televised briefing.

One forest fire that briefly threatened homes in a coastal town near Athens was brought under control earlier on Friday, fire officials said.

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou and Giorgos Moutafis; additional reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise, Frances Kerry and Leslie Adler)