Greek firefighters work to put up wildfire west of Athens

A powerful wildfire west of Athens has been raging for already third days, the Greek firefighting service reports.

Report informs, citing RIA Novosti, that the fire erupted on May 19, close to the Shinos settlement, after branches in the olive groove were burned in dry and windy weather. In just a day, the blaze engulfed around 2,000 hectares of forest.

According to the National Athens Observatory, 5,500 hectares of forest burned down on the evening of May 21. The smoke from the fire spread to Athens. Hundreds of residents were evacuated.

Nearly 300 firefighters and aviation are currently working to extinguish the blaze.

"The fire which broke out in the evening hours on Wednesday continues with many scattered spots of the active blaze. 278 firefighters, 89 vehicles, ten pedestrian groups, a special mechanized part of firefighting operations, the Olympus mobile operative center, eight Canadair aircraft, eight PZL helicopters, and two more helicopters are coordinating the actions," the firefighting service said on Saturday morning.