Dramatic footage shows volunteer firefighters battling the massive wildfires that have ravaged forested areas around Athens, Greece.<br /><br />The wildfires initially began near Varnavas, just north of the capital Athens, on July 17 and have led to the evacuation of thousands of people.<br /><br />Video shows a fire engine reversing and volunteer firefighters on foot as flames surround them. <br /><br />So far, 40 square miles (104 square kilometres) of land has been burned northeast of Athens - twice the size of Manhattan. <br /><br />Further footage filmed from a passenger jet on Sunday (Aug 11) shows the extent of the fires, with a long streak of burning orange and red splitting the ground down below.<br /><br />As of Wednesday (Aug 14), the fire had damaged 22 businesses and rendered at least 78 homes uninhabitable, with nearly half of them completely destroyed.
