(Refiles to show TV footage also available)
SIVIRI, Greece, Aug 13 (Reuters) – Tourists and residents fled villages in the Halkidiki region of northern Greece by land and sea on Thursday as a wildfire fanned by strong winds engulfed houses and trees near a resort during the heart of holiday season.
Heavy gusts also made firefighting difficult on Croatia’s popular Dalmatian coast, where a stretch of major highway was shut due to a blaze in the Lokva Rogoznica area south of the town of Omis, local media reported.
Across Europe, successive heatwaves this summer have intensified drought, strained water supplies and left vegetation tinder-dry, helping wildfires in Spain, France, Greece scorch near unprecedented amounts of land.
In Greece, people wearing face masks, some clutching children or pets, boarded dingies and boats in the seaside town of Siviri as the fire ate through a forest and large columns of smoke turned the cloudless sky a dark gray.
As the blaze approached from inland, flames charred holiday apartments and their sea-facing balconies.
The coast guard said that more than 300 people have been evacuated by boat from Siviri, which sits on a picturesque peninsular of woodland, olive groves and beaches south of Greece’s second city Thessaloniki.
Patrol and fire boats and fishing vessels were involved in the operation, it said in a statement.
More than 140 firefighters were deployed to battle flames raging on both sides of the main road from Siviri to the town of Kassandreia. Nine aircraft and seven helicopters were also deployed, the fire brigade said in a statement posted on X. One firefighter was injured and traffic has been stopped.
“Our effort is focused on extinguishing the fire and the safe transport of people,” fire brigade spokesman Giannis Artopios told Protothema news portal.
In Croatia, local media reports showed flames leaping amongst trees surrounding a main road and in built up coastal areas.
Evacuations are underway, the reports said, quoting the fire department.
(Reporting by Alexandros Litsardakis in Siviri and Daria Sito-Sucic in Sarajevo; Editing by Edward McAllister)
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