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A local resident battles the raging fire in Lagonisi area, some 35 kilometeres from Athens, on July 17, 2023. - Greek police on July 17, 2023 arrested a man suspected of starting an ongoing wildfire near Athens fuelled by a heatwave and strong winds, firefighters said. "Police carried out the arrest of a foreigner who allegedly caused the fire" in Kouvaras, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Athens, said fire service spokesman Yannis Artopios. (Photo by Spyros BAKALIS / AFP)
A forest blaze in Greece is "the largest wildfire ever recorded in the EU" and the bloc is mobilising nearly half its firefighting air wing to tackle it, a European Commission spokesman said Tuesday.
Eleven planes and one helicopter from the EU fleet have been sent to help Greece counter fires in the Dadia National Park, north of the city of Alexandroupoli, along with 407 firefighters, spokesman Balazs Ujvari said.
