by Maria Spiliopoulou
ATHENS, July 23 (Xinhua) -- Greek firefighters were battling against three big wildfires which broke out within a few hours on Monday in Athens suburbs and seaside towns near the Greek capital, as hundreds of people were evacuated from residential zones and houses were damaged, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
A large part of the Attica region, including the Athens center, was covered by clouds of thick black smoke, as blazes were burning forested mountainous areas and threatened settlements to the west, east and south.
No injuries have been reported, but the Mayor of Rafina- Pikermi Vangelis Bournous announced that at least 100 houses and 200 cars have been damaged by the flames at the front which started at Penteli mountain and was raging some 40 kilometers east of Athens.
Furthermore, more than 600 children have been evacuated from summer camps in the area as a precautionary measure, while many residents have sought refuge from the smoke to the seafront.
Meanwhile, over 70 firefighters, assisted by dozens of fire engines, and water dropping aircrafts and helicopters were struggling to contain the blaze.
Their efforts have been hampered by strong winds up to ten on the Beaufort scale blowing in the area.
Similar scenes were unfolding at the same time at the foot of Gerania mountain, some 50 kilometers west of Athens, where residents of three villages near the beach town of Kineta also evacuated their homes amid heavy smoke, according to the Fire Brigade.
Still unconfirmed reports talk about a dozen homes which have also been damaged here.
"I am near the blaze for more than an hour. We cannot contain the flames. The wind is blowing so strongly. Every 10 minutes we are forced to move back some 500 meters, because the fire is getting closer. It cannot be put under control with such strong winds. You should see how stormy the sea is. We haven't seen such a thing here even during the winter," Xenophon, a local resident, told Xinhua.
Authorities closed the national highway connecting Attica to the Peloponnese peninsula and train services were suspended, while power cuts were reported in the region due to damages to the power lines.
A separate blaze, the third within seven hours, also broke out at Kalamos town, less than an hour drive south of Athens, forcing locals to flee to the beach, as flames neared homes.
According to the Fire Service, reinforcements have been deployed across Attica from across the country.
The cause of the fires was still unknown, but local authorities were on alert due to the heat wave which is sweeping through Greece since Saturday.
Speaking from the fire brigade's operational center, Citizen Protection Minister Nikos Toskas hinted that at least the fire on Gerania could be the result of arson and that this will be investigated by authorities.
"State forces are on full standby, so that we don't mourn victims and limit as much as possible the damages," he said.
"The situation is critical," Secretary General for Civil Protection Yannis Kapakis said, noting that in particular the fire in Kineta shared many features with the massively destructive fires of 2007.
In the summer of 2007, Greece mourned more than 80 victims of wildfires nationwide.
"This fire is one of the worst scenarios, which we had hoped not to face this year... It is one of the most difficult fires where strong winds combine with dense flammable material to aid its rapid development," Kapakis told AMNA.
Greece suffers from many wildfires in particular during the summer due to high temperatures and arsonists.
A suspect was arrested this weekend in western Greece, the Fire Brigade announced earlier on Monday.
