Thick smoke hampers efforts to extinguish fire at Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park

Four water-dropping aircraft and nine helicopters took to the air at first light on Saturday to join the fire-fighting effort underway at the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park. Not all were able to operate, however, due to the thick smoke that created major visibility issues, the fire brigade said.

The fire was not threatening any inhabited areas on Saturday morning but continuing its destructive course within the pristine forest.

Firefighting forces on the ground had been strengthened, with assistance provided by the Army, volunteer fire-fighting groups, local residents and forestry service personnel, who were continuing efforts to open up paths to reach the fire.

"There is a lot of dense smoke, especially toward Lefkimmi. The work of putting out the fire is extremely difficult, in some places you can't see anything at all. The smoke also hampers water bombing by aerial means to a great extent. They are operating and today have focused their effort southwest near Lefkimi, but in these conditions it is very hard to make drops with accuracy," Soufli Mayor Panagiotis Kalakikos told the Athens Macedonian News Agency (ANA).

Regarding the fire-fighting effort on the ground, he said that many people had volunteered and were working to widen firebreaks and paths by removing vegetation, so there was no shortage of hands, but in many places the rocky terrain made access impossible.