Two wildfires broke out almost simultaneously Monday afternoon in northern Elis (Ilia) prefecture, along the Peloponnese’s northwest arc, with the blazes in Gastouni and Kotteika sites occurring a short distance from one another and burning low vegetation.

Strong ground and aerial firefighting forces were deployed to both instances. In Gastouni, 40 firefighters with nine vehicles, two ground teams, volunteers and three aircraft were operating at the scene.

A further 30 firefighters, one a ground team, volunteers and eight vehicles were deployed to the Kotteika wildfire. Six aircraft and a helicopter were conducting water drops, while municipal water tankers and heavy machinery were assisting firefighters on the ground.

No homes were under threat as of Monday afternoon.

The wider area was under a high wildfire risk, rated a category 3 on Greece’s fire danger scale.

The blazes in Elis came as firefighters were also dealing with a major wildfire at the Kouvaras settlement in southeast Attica prefecture – southeast of Athens proper – where a fire that broke out in low vegetation early Monday morning. The latter prompted 112 evacuation alerts for residents. Nearly 200 firefighters, including crews from France and Romania, were deployed alongside dozens of vehicles, aircraft and helicopters. The fire destroyed facilities at a poultry farm near the Agios Stylianos site, while its overall situation later improved, with numerous smoke spots remaining within the fire perimeter.

Meanwhile, another wildfire was reported in northern Greece in the early afternoon, and specifically at the Kokkinohoma site of Kavala prefecture. The blaze erupted in a low vegetation area, with a strong detail of firefighters at the scene, and three aircraft dropping water.

Monday’s fires also followed a particularly active wildfire period across the country, with authorities maintaining heightened readiness amid elevated fire danger in several regions.