Approximately 145 firefighters have been mobilized to put out the fire near Patras, the third largest city in Greece.

Authorities said that firefighters extinguished a forest fire near Patras, the third largest city in Greece. About a dozen houses were burned down and five people were hospitalized due to breathing problems.

The fire department said on Saturday that it had mobilized about 145 firefighters, 50 trucks, 8 firefighting aircraft and helicopters to extinguish the fire in the Zeria area of ??the Peloponnese Peninsula, which is about 210 kilometers (124 miles) west of Athens.

Authorities evacuated people from four villages in the area and the coastal resort of Logos.

The Civil Defense Department stated that about 12 houses were burned down and 5 people with respiratory problems were taken to hospitals in the area.

Firefighters told the Associated Press that although the wind had weakened, the fire was strong and spread to multiple fronts.

The hospitals in Patras and the neighboring city of Aigio have been notified to take in any injured people, while the Coast Guard has been on standby to rescue any swimmers flooded by smoke.

The Greek news agency ANA said that the highway between the Peloponnese Peninsula and the Greek mainland has been closed.

Greece is hit by forest fires every summer, but experts warn that global warming will increase its frequency and intensity.

The weather forecaster said that since Friday, Greece has been in another heat wave, with temperatures hovering between 42 and 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit).

A few days ago, a fire raged on Pentelli Hill near the capital, Athens, but caused no casualties.

A fire in July 2018 continued to kill 102 people in the same area, the worst death toll from a forest fire in Greece’s history.

The wildfire near the village of Piri in the west of Patras started from high up on the hillside but was already dangerously close to the seaside town [Andreas Alexopoulos/AP]

Due to the combined effects of dry weather, heat waves and strong winds, there have been 56 wildfires in Greece in the past 24 hours. The Minister of Civil Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, said that most of them were eliminated at an early stage.

The heat wave is expected to reach its peak on Monday, with inland temperatures ranging from 42 to 46 degrees Celsius (107.6 to 114.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Meteorologists say that temperatures in most parts of Greece will remain at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher until at least Friday.

The country’s health minister said that in neighbouring Turkey, the death toll from wildfires that raged in Turkish Mediterranean towns on Saturday rose to six after two forest workers were killed.

Since Wednesday, fires across Turkey have burned forests and some settlements, encroached on villages and tourist destinations, and forced people to evacuate.