Hundreds of Greek firefighters, backed by French and Italian firefighting planes, mounted a fierce battle Monday, as massive wildfires raged unchecked in Greater Athens for the third consecutive day.

AFP Flames threatening the Parthenon in Athens

Residents who chose to stay frantically used garden hoses and tree branches to douse flames threatening their properties. So far, there have been no reports of casualties.

A state of emergency was declared in eastern Attica over the weekend, where the blaze burnt down dozens of homes and razed more than 12,000 hectares (30,000 acres) of woodland.

The northern town of Marathon, an important archaeological site with ancient monuments and museums, narrowly escaped devastation Sunday night after it was encircled with flames and smoke.

“Certain inhabited areas in the capital are by no means out of danger,” FRANCE 24’s Helena Smith in Athens reported on Monday.

Local officials said that the fire had retreated from the Athens suburbs and was burning mainly in forest land, but the danger of a flare-up was constant.

Police urged Athenians, returning home from their holidays, to postpone their travel plans to avoid traffic jams and road blocks.

'Gigantic mobilisation'

The fire department ordered a "gigantic mobilisation" to tackle the close to 90 blazes nationwide, including some on the islands of Zakynthos, Evia and Skyros, and in the central Viotia area.

Four helicopters, 187 fire engines and about 430 fire fighters also battled the blaze, fire officials said. Some 300 soldiers were also dispatched for rescue efforts. Two Italian planes, as well as one from France and a helicopter, combined with about 40 fire fighters from Cyprus to fight the blazes. Austria also pledged to send in aid.

Strong winds and thick clouds of smoke hampered firefighting efforts over the weekend. There was a brief respite after winds dropped overnight, but a fire department spokeswoman cautioned that gale force winds are forecast for later in the day.

“Many Greeks are enraged and cannot believe that another round of tragic fires has come and that the state apparatus appears totally ill-prepared to tackle the crisis,” Helena Smith says.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis convened a crisis meeting on Sunday as the government came under fire for failing to coordinate the fire-fighting efforts. Opposition parties have urged the government to hire more planes to accelerate efforts.

Greece is vulnerable each summer due to temperatures that often soar above 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and strong seasonal winds. Hundreds of fires across southern Europe in July destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and ruined dozens of homes.