Greek firefighters battle growing forest blaze near Athens

ATHENS - Greek firefighters on Wednesday battled a wildfire raging through one of the last remaining pine forests near Athens and said that homes could be at risk.

More than 500 wildfires have broken out in recent weeks across the country, ravaging swathes of forest and forcing the evacuation of thousands of people. "Τhe flames are huge. I do not know what will happen, the fire is approaching homes," Lefteris Kosmopoulos, deputy local governor of the Western Attica region, told state TV ERT.