Firefighters in Greece gain ground against wildfires near Athens

Firefighters in Greece gained ground Tuesday against a wildfire burning for a fifth day on the outskirts of Athens, as easing winds allowed water-bombing aircraft back into the skies in force. More than 30 aircraft joined 575 firefighters battling the blaze near the coastal village of Psatha, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) northwest of the capital, the fire service said. “The situation has clearly improved compared to the last few days, but there are still many scattered hotspots, which means that forces remain on site to prevent a possible flare-up," fire department communications chief Vassilis Vathrakoyannis told AFP. Large areas of scorched terrain still concealed active and smouldering pockets that could quickly reignite if the wind picks up again. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: © France 24 07:49 "It's a huge area and there could be a flare-up again at any moment," deputy fire department spokesman Yiannis Artopios had earlier told state TV ERT. Most...