Driven by strong winds, the fire in the Aude department on the Mediterranean coast, near the Spanish border, had already burned through 600 hectares (1,500 acres) after breaking out earlier in the afternoon, local officials said.
Some 630 firefighters backed by about a dozen planes were battling the fire, according to the department's deputy prefect Remi Recio.
Smoke from the fire was causing backups on the A9 coastal highway, AFP reporters said, though the key route to Spain remained open.
Flames destroyed two houses and local officials converted a local gymnasium into a shelter, although the residents of about 10 evacuated houses were later allowed to return home.
As a precautionary measure, the prefecture later ordered the evacuation of two campsites and a housing estate in the commune of Port-la-Nouvelle on the coast.
Three fire fighters were treated for smoke inhalation.
The national weather service had placed the Aude department on orange alert for a "high risk" of fire on Saturday.
The fire comes less than a month after the Aude department was hit by a major blaze that swept through 2,100 hectares near Narbonne, mobilising 1,000 firefighters.
Greece asks for EU help in battling wildfires
Athens (AFP) July 26, 2025 -
Greece on Saturday requested EU help to battle wildfires that have sprung up in different regions, one of the worst just north of Athens destroying houses and forcing police to evacuate homes.
The fires broke out nearly a week into a heatwave, in which temperatures have passed 45C.
Strong winds were fanning the blaze near Athens and other sites and the Peloponnese peninsula that juts out west of the capital, fire brigade spokesman Vasileios Vathrakogiannis said.
They were also feeding the flames on the islands of Crete, Euboea and Kythera, he added. "The hard part is ahead of us," he told reporters.
Several regions were under the highest level of alert -- Red Category 5 -- meaning an extreme risk of wildfires, due to the hot and dry conditions.
Firefighters had brought 44 fires under control out of 52 that had broken out over the past 24 hours, said the brigade spokesman.
Greece had requested European assistance through the RescEU mechanism, asking for six firefighting aircrafts to bolster efforts to contain the fires, he added.
Firefighting units from the Czech Republic were already operating as part of European assistance.
- Blaze near Athens -
One of the most difficult fronts was just 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Athens, where authorities ordered the evacuation of a village, Drosopigi, said firefighters.
Several houses in Drosopigi were ablaze, as the strong winds pushed the flames through the buildings.
One front of the fire had reached Kryoneri, another village farther north, where houses were also burning.
Police said they had evacuated at least 27 people from their houses.
Five people were taken to hospital. A fireman with burns, three people suffering breathing difficulties and an old woman who appeared to have suffered a stroke.
The smell of the burning wood carried as far as the centre of Athens.
Another wildfire, on the island of Kythera, trapped dozens of people on a beach who had to be rescued by a coastguard vessel and three private boats.
The fire there was burning trees planted after an earlier devastating fire in 2017.
- 'Out of control' -
The heatwave, which started in Greece last Monday, was expected to last until the coming Monday, the country's weather service said.
The National Observatory in Athens said the warmest temperature recorded Friday was 45.8C in the Peloponnese region of Messinia. On Saturday, the temperature reached 45.2C in Amfilohia, in western Greece.
On the island of Euboea, also called Evia, northeast of Athens, two fire trucks were destroyed and five firemen taken to hospital with light injuries.
"The situation is out of control. The destruction is immeasurable," Giorgos Psathas, the mayor of Chalcis, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.
In the Peloponnese's Messinia region, evacuations were also under way because of the threat posed by the fire.
The head of the fire brigade put all services there on general alert, said fire services spokesman Vathrakogiannis.
Civil protection authorities said the risk of fire remained "very high" Sunday, particularly in Attica, central and western Greece, and Crete.
Hundreds of firemen and forest commandos were due to keep battling the blames through the night, with firefighting aircraft expected to rejoin the battle at first light Sunday.
Last month, fires on Greece's fifth-biggest island Chios, in the northern Aegean, destroyed 4,700 hectares (11,600 acres) of land.
Early July, a wildfire on the island of Crete forced the evacuation of 5,000 tourists.
The most destructive year for wildfires was 2023, when 20 people were killed and nearly 175,000 hectares were lost.
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