ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Wildfires raging through Greece prompted rescue personnel Sunday to seek the evacuations of 20,000 people living in suburban Athens, officials said.
Panagiotis Vorias, mayor of the Athens suburb Agios Stefanos, said police there have been asked to help evacuate the city's 20,000 residents as an uncontrolled fire burned on the northeastern edges of the Greek capital, CNN reported.
"They took the move as a precautionary measure because the fire there is raging out of control," Vorias told CNN.
Citizen Protection Agency Chief Margaritas Mouzas said at least 1,000 had already fled their homes in Agios Stefanos, but about 10,000 people did not want to leave.
Officials said more than 600 firefighters fighting the wildfires cleared out two children's hospitals and a senior citizens' home in suburban Athens, as well as a monastery and some summer camps, CNN said.
Aircraft from Italy and France Sunday were to aid Greece in fighting the fires.The brush fires started late Friday in hot, dry weather and spread rapidly.
While no casualties had been reported, the fires were the worst since 2007, when nearly 70 people died, a regional Athens governor said.
