Erymanthos fire south of Patras under control late Thursday

The fire that broke out in a forested area near Erymanthos, NW Peloponnese on Wednesday has abated and has no active front, the Fire Brigade said on Thursday.

The fire broke out in the location called Drossia, south of Patras.

A total of 180 firefighters with 8 mountaineer nits and 48 firetrucks have been trying to put the fire out entirely. They are assisted by firefighting aircraft and helicopters, as well as volunteer firefighters and local government water trucks and machinery.

Meanwhile, a wildfire that broke out earlier on Thursday at a forest and farmland area in Profitis Ilias at the city of Patras, Peloponnese, is subsiding, the Fire Brigade reported.

Firefighters are still battling the blaze to prevent the rekindling of fire pockets, assisted by municipal water trucks.

Officials from the Patras mayor's office and regional government said the blaze in rugged terrain was threatening two villages in the area, and said they could impose an evacuation order if the threat increased.

Forest and brush fires are common in the hot, dry summer months in Greece. More than 60 people were killed when forest fires raged across southern Greece in 2007.