Frightened inhabitants of Agios Stefanos gathered in the town's main square in early afternoon as flames closed in on the town center and police with loudspeakers directed everyone to leave immediately on the main highway to Athens, 14 miles (23 kilometers) to the southwest.The fires are burning so hot that they're creating their own microclimate, including fire tornadoes which sends embers flying in all directions, making firefighting efforts all the more difficult.
Other residents tried desperately to save their homes with hoses, buckets and branches. Planes swooped low over the town to pour water on the flaming houses.
"I call on all residents to follow the instructions of the police as to where they will go," an emotional Agios Stefanos deputy mayor Panayiotis Bitakos told Skai TV. "We had been begging the authorities since early in the morning to send forces ... It is too late now. Too late."
Wildfires two years ago turned to cinder hundreds of thousands of acres around Greece. Many of those fires were the result of arsonists. It doesn't appear that this year's wildfires are the result of arsonist, but instead dry conditions.
Currently, more than 100 fires are active around Greece, which is struggling to fight them with limited firefighting capabilities; they're getting assistance from Italy, Cyprus, and France.
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