Today in photos

Wind-driven fires raged for a fourth day near Athens, prompting several European countries to send planes and other assistance. View a slideshow of these images.

Section:Gallery

Mon., Aug. 24, 2009

A firefighter sprays water at a burning forest near Nea Makri, north of Athens, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. Wind-driven fires raged for a fourth day outside the capital, prompting several European countries to send planes and other assistance.

Nikolas Giakoumidis Associated Press
A man walks by a burning house yard in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
Firefighters use a hose to try and extinguish a fire in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A man wipes his eye in front of his home as fire rages nearby in Dioni,40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A man salvages his belongings as fire fighters hose his yard in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A Plane drops water on a burning forest, in Nea Makri, near Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Dusan Vranic Associated Press
A plane drops water as firefighters try to extinguish a burning forest in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A resident stands on the roof terrace of her home to keep watch on a nearby fire at Nea Makri, a suburb north of Athens, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. Firefighters battled around-the-clock Monday to try and contain massive blazes north of Athens, as more water-dropping planes and assistance from other European nations arrived to relieve Greece's exhausted fire crews.

Nikolas Giakoumidis Associated Press
Men try to extinguish fires in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A volunteer firefighter uses a hose to spray water on a burning tree, as a convent is seen in the background, at Nea Makri, north of Athens, on Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. The convent was evacuated Monday. Wind-driven fires raged for a fourth day outside the capital, prompting several European countries to send planes and other assistance.

Nikolas Giakoumidis Associated Press
A firefighter holds a hose as water is dropped from a plane at a burning forest in Dioni, 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Athens, Greece, Monday, Aug. 24, 2009. An overnight drop in gale-force winds offered hard-pressed Greek firefighters a brief respite Monday after wildfires raged unchecked for two days north of Athens, burning houses and swathes of forest while forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press
A resident sits on top of a water wagon during a fire at the Mount of Penteli, 35 kilometers, (22 miles) east of Athens, early Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. A massive wildfire tore through outlying suburbs north of Athens early Sunday, destroying homes and forcing thousands to flee in dramatic overnight evacuations, Fire Service and local officials said.

Petros Giannakouris Associated Press