ATHENS
\nA new wildfire broke out in Greece Monday morning southeast of the capital Athens, fanned by strong winds of more than 70 kilometers per hour, firefighters said.
\nAt least 172 firefighters and around 40 vehicles have been deployed to fight the blaze in Kouvaras, 60 km (37 miles) southeast of Athens, in the Attica region, the fire service announced on X.
\n\u201cTwo water-bombing aircraft and four helicopters\u201d are also taking part, the service added.
\nAgios Stylianos, a village near Kouvaras, has been ordered to evacuate by civil protection authorities.
\nIt marks the second fire near Athens this summer, after one that broke out 10 days ago northwest of the Greek capital and destroyed more than 11,000 hectares of pine forests and farmland.
\nBecause of gusts reaching up to 130 km\/h, it took five days to bring the fire under control.
\nTwo helicopter crew members died in a collision with another helicopter while battling the flames.
\nLike much of the Mediterranean, Greece has experienced increasingly frequent and intense wildfires that scientists link to climate change.
\nThe country remains on extreme alert and several regions are still classified at a very high fire risk.
\nExperts have warned about the increased severity of the fires affecting Attica, where Athens is located.
\nFrom 2017 to 2026, 42 percent of the total forest area in the region burned because of 15 major fires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ATHENS A new wildfire broke out in Greece Monday morning southeast of the capital Athens, fanned by strong winds of more than 70 kilometers per hour, firefighters said. At least 172 firefighters and around 40 vehicles have been deployed to fight the blaze in Kouvaras, 60 km (37 miles) southeast of Athens, in the Attica […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-561302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n