Greek firefighters were battling several fires across the country on Tuesday, but their efforts were hampered by strong winds and dry conditions after a summer of back-to-back heat waves. In addition to the large fire near Alexandroupolis, firefighters were grappling with another blaze in the northern region of Rodopi, as well as blazes in Aspropyrgos and Fyli, west of Athens. Three villages near Fyli were evacuated in the afternoon as well as a monastery. And fires were burning on the islands of Kythnos and Evia.

And in neighboring Turkey, at least six villages are evacuated in the west, after forest fires broke in the province of Canakkale, an Aegean city along Dardanelles Strait, Turkish authorities said.

Vessel traffic on the waterway was temporarily suspended from south to north, the transportation ministry said, according to media reports.