ATHENS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- After waging an intense four-day battle to put out a fierce wildfire here, Greek fire fighters managed to bring the blaze under control, the Fire Service announced on Wednesday morning.
Firefighters were able to stem most of the fires in the capital city's northern suburb throughout the night and the early hours of the morning, according to Fire Service spokesperson Stavroula Malliri.
Authorities said that more than 300 firefighters remained deployed in the area as well as two aircraft and three helicopters to prevent the fire from rekindling.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras flew over the fire stricken areas of eastern Attica to inspect the scale of the damage, the Athens News Agency stated.
"The destruction is limited to about 15,000 acres," Tsipras told local media after touring the area. A similar fire in the area in 2009 burnt 150,000 acres, he said.
"We avoided the worst, and we need to be alert," said Tsipras expressing his gratitude to all for their superhuman efforts to abate the wildfire.
Fire Service officials, though, were cautious as winds are forecast to get stronger in the afternoon.
The fire that broke out on Sunday afternoon in Kalamos, 40 km north of Athens, spread overnight to nearby villages, causing property damage and burning thousands of acres of pine forest.
As the blaze is now under control, a firefighting mission from Cyprus that was expected to arrive in Greece on Wednesday to assist was canceled.
Also, Greece's request to EU for four firefighting aircraft would be canceled, according to Athens News Agency.
On other fronts, the wildfire in Ilia prefecture in Peloponnese is also under control.
