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Once again, the hot Greek summer has started with fires. Fire-fighters brought under control the huge fire near Elefsina and Aspropyrgos in Athens, which has been burning since yesterday. At the time of its extinguishing, a young man, aged 28, the driver of the regional director of the fire service in Attica suddenly felt bad. He was immediately taken to hospital, where he died despite the efforts of the doctors. The reason was a cardiac arrest.

Three fire-fighters received minor burns, two of them in the fire on the island of Salamina and one - in Aspropyrgos.

The fire started shortly after 2:30 pm on Wednesday and spread very quickly due to the strong wind which was blowing in the area. One of the fronts even threatened the military airport in Elefsina. Thanks to the efforts of fire-fighters and the staff, the fire could not spread inside the airport.

For security reasons, traffic police have blocked the traffic on NATO Avenue from Tria to Athens. On this front, 80 fire-fighters with 40 fire engines, 77 volunteers and 8 municipal vehicles are fighting the fire. Seven aeroplanes and one helicopter are also involved in the fire fighting.

Forest areas on the island of Salamina, where the fire has spread and damaged residential buildings continue to burn but the fire is now under control. Similar is the situation in the region of Trizina in the northeast Peloponnesus opposite the island of Poros.

Fire-fighters contained the fire near Karatona in Nauplion, in the Prosilio area in Boeotia and near the villages of Stephani and Kalogeriko in Corinth.

Two forest fires broke out in the region of Achaia and near Thebes in the early afternoon, without threatening built-up areas.

According to the civil protection service, the danger of new fires remains very high today too. It is assessed at four on the five-point table for the area near the island of Evia and for the whole territory of Attica.

The civil protection service are calling on citizens to avoid taking actions that could cause fires such as throwing burning cigarettes, burning dry grass and use of welding machines and other appliances.