Athens, Aug 23 (DPA) Athenians living on the outskirts of the Greek capital battled alongside firefighters to stamp out a large fire burning out of control northeast of the city.

Declaring a state of emergency, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis urged calm, saying "it is a very difficult battle but the first priority is the protection of people's lives and property".

The fire broke out early Saturday and quickly spread, fanned by strong, gale-force winds in the area of Grammatiko, about 40 km northeast of the Greek capital.

Within hours, the fire had spread, damaging homes, burning thousands of acres of forest and forcing the evacuation of its residents and nearby children's camps.

By late Saturday, the fire was raging out of control on at least four fronts near the towns of Stamata, Rodopi, Dionysos and Marathona and many feared that without the assistance of water planes and helicopters, fire officials on the ground faced an impossible task.

"I fear that unless the fire is contained during the night we will see nothing left standing by sunrise," said Spyros Zagoris, the Mayor of Marathonas.

Giannis Kapakis, the head of the fire brigade, said the fire was heading south because of strong winds towards the heavily-populated residential area of Pendelis located east of Athens.

As a precautionary measure, officials began evacuating two hospitals in the area of Pendelis and transferring patients, the majority of them children, to other hospitals around the city.

Fearing casualties and increased damage resembling the fire disaster that struck the country in 2007, the government declared a state of emergency almost immediately as thick black smoke engulfed the Greek capital.

Hundreds of residents, armed with shovels and buckets, worked side by side with firefighters. Some 70 fire engines, 12 planes, nine helicopters and 38 water tankers were also in action to try to extinguish the blaze and to prevent it from spreading to other residential areas nearby.

Additional reinforcements, including manpower and firetrucks, from neighbouring municipalities were also dispatched to the area. Reports said one firefighter was reported injured while battling the fire in the town of Marathona.

Firefighters said the constantly changing winds would make battling the fire more difficult. In the town of Marathona, efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered after fire officials discovered that the main water pipes linking to fire pumps had been severed.

"We see the fire approaching but it is too late to escape - we are trapped," a monk trapped in the Zogohos Piggis Monastery in Rodopis was heard saying on national television via telephone.

Reports said the fire had already destroyed thousands of acres of forest and olives groves and at least a dozen homes were damaged in the fire. Panicked people rushed around to save their property despite warnings from fire officials to evacuate the area.

In an effort to avoid an explosion, emergency forces removed munitions from an army base located in Varnava.

Firefighting officials said more than 100 forest fires were reported to have broken out across the country in less than 24 hours, fuelled by high temperatures and winds.

Three blazes were also reported to be burning out of control on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, scorching nearly 2,000 acres of forest. Other fires were reported on the eastern Greek islands of Evia, Skyros, the eastern town of Nafplion, Corinth and the Dodenannese island of Rhodes.

Forest fires have become more frequent in Greece in recent summers, triggered by high temperatures and drought but also arson.