Greece - Athens wildfires

Athenians beg for fire help

Article published on the 2009-08-24 Latest update 2009-08-25 05:36 TU

A fire-fighting airplane flies over a home in Dioni village, northeast of Athens
(Photo: Reuters)

Hundreds of terrified residents northeast of Athens, Greece have been begging to be rescued as massive wildfires rage around the capital. Some 500 firefighters continue to battle the fires, which threaten the lives of residents in homes, a children's hospital and a retirement home, along with ancient historical sites, including that of the Battle of Marathon (490BC).

Residents are angry and say that they have been abandoned by the fire crews to fight the fires themselves.

"We called the fire brigade. They came in one of their engines, sprayed some water on a few trees and then left," one resident of the village of Stamatas told Agence France Presse news service on Monday. "A few minutes later, the fire resumed and we were on our own and had to work so hard to contain it."

The fire has quickly spread through the forests on Mount Penteli, the last barrier to Athens, and has crossed into the northeastern suburbs of Dionysos, Stamata and Rodopoli.

"The fires have reached my house. I have been on site since this morning-- it was horrific actually," Alexis Mostrios, an eyewitness in Pendeli, near the town of Marathon, told RFI.

"I just managed to scrape through. Pretty much the whole area around the Penteli mountain is black and smoking," said Mostrios.

"The only good news about all this catastrophe is the fact that there is no casualties and no one has reported to have been seriously injured," he added.

In other parts of Greece, such as the central region of Viotia, 25 people were rescued from a beach when fires started up in the area. Two islands, Evia and Zakynthos, are also burning.