Greek firefighters battle forest blaze for third day

Emergency service says the main front of the blaze under control as weather conditions improve.

Hundreds of firefighters have battled a forest fire west of Greece’s capital Athens for a third day, and brought the main front of the blaze under control as weather conditions improved. Backed by 16 aircraft and by the army, more than 270 firefighters fought the fire on the Geraneia mountain range, described by authorities as “one of the biggest” in decades. Speaking to local ANT1 television on Saturday, fire chief Stefanos Kolokouris said better weather conditions had allowed firefighters to bring the main front of the outbreak under control late on Friday, but there remain “several active and scattered” blazes.