Greece fights wildfires amid gale-force winds

ATHENS (Reuters) -A wildfire killed at least one person and burned houses and farmland in a town outside Athens on Friday as Greek firefighters struggled to contain a series of blazes at the start of what is forecast to be several days of gale-force winds.

Eleven planes, 12 helicopters and 170 firefighters were deployed around Keratea, 30 kilometres southwest of the capital, and residents were called to evacuate, the fire brigade said.

Much of the area has seen barely a drop of rain in months. Wind gusts of up to 80 kilometres per hour fanned the fire, setting olive tree orchards alight. Images on local media showed houses engulfed in flames.

Firefighters discovered the body of an elderly man in a burned-out structure in Keratea, Greek Fire Brigade Spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said during a briefing

"The fire is advancing. In some places only aerial firefighting is being possible," Yiannis Schizas, a member of the Civil Protection in the area, told SKAI TV. 

"There is too much wind. It is becoming a mess," he said.

High winds are expected through the weekend and beyond. 

In the touristy island of Kefalonia, in western Greece, a wildfire was out of control, burning forests and farm land, authorities and local media said.   

Greece and other Mediterranean countries are in an area dubbed "a wildfire hotspot" by scientists, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years due to a fast-changing climate, prompting calls for a new approach.

Parched southern France is currently facing its worst wildfire in decades. 

(Reporting by Ivana Sekularac, Daria Sito-Sucic and Edward McAllister; Editing by Mark Porter)