Wind lull aids Greek firefighters 强风停止，有助希腊消防员灭

A lull¹ in strong winds has given a boost to Greek firefighters battling dozens of wildfires across the country.

强风的停止有助希腊消防员与森林大火的抗战。

Fires are still threatening areas north of Athens and several Greek islands, but firefighters say the area under their control is growing.

Thousands of residents of the capital's northern suburbs were forced to leave their homes as dozens of houses and large areas of forest were burnt.

Italian and French planes have been helping² douse³ the flames.

Nearly 2,000 firefighters, including a Cypriot contingent⁴（分遣队，偶然的事情）, and soldiers have been engaging the blaze（火焰，烈火） on the ground, together with hundreds of volunteers.

The BBC's Malcolm Brabant in the area says many of the fires had now been put out.

A fire department spokesman in northern Attica prefecture, where thousands of hectares（公顷） of land have been burnt, said there were some encouraging signs.

"The intensity⁵ of the fire is weakening and the area under our control is growing," Yiannis Kapakis told the AFP news agency.

Optimism

Local media said the most ominous⁶（预兆的，不详的） fire on Monday afternoon was on Mount Kithaironas in Attica prefecture, north-west of the capital.

The authorities have ordered the immediate⁷ evacuation of the nearby coastal⁸ resort of Porto Germeno.

Fires are also burning on the Aegean Sea islands of Evia and Skyros and on the island of Zakynthos, on the west of the mainland.

The town of Marathon, with important archaeological sites, was encircled by fires but appears to have been spared.

Reports say nuns⁹ had to be evacuated¹⁰ from an Orthodox monastery¹¹ near the seaside resort of Nea Makri, as firemen fought to save the compound from encroaching fires.

"The flames were 30m (100ft) high. Thankfully they came and rescued us," one of the nuns told AP.

More than 90 fires are thought to have started since Saturday and more than 37,000 acres of land have been burnt. A state of emergency has been declared in the Athens region.

On Monday, a regional Athens governor, Yiannis Sgouros said there were "some signs of optimism" but that there would be no let-up in the firefighting efforts.

But while no casualties have been reported, Mr Sgouros has called the fires an "ecological¹² disaster".

Arson¹³ claim

The government has dismissed accusations¹⁴ by some officials that it was slow to respond to the crisis and send assistance.

Government spokesman Panos Livadas told the BBC the fact that no lives had been lost was proof of the efficiency of the operation.

Meanwhile the leader of the Communists (KKE), Aleka Papariga, has alleged¹⁵ there was a well-organised conspiracy¹⁶ to clear the area for property development. Previous fires in Greece have been blamed on arsonists¹⁷（纵火犯） intent on clearing land.

The fires began late on Friday in Grammatiko, near Marathon. They are the worst since those in 2007 which killed about 70 people.

In July, dozens of fires burnt through thousands of hectares of land in other parts of Greece, Spain, France and Italy.

According to the conservation group Greenpeace, heat waves and drier conditions are leading to larger and more uncontrollable forest fires across the whole Mediterranean¹⁸ region.