The Associated Press / Two men try to extinguish the flames of a burning shop in northern Athens on Monday, as hundreds of firefighters battle a large, out-of-control forest fire on the outskirts of the Greek capital.

ATHENS, Greece — A large wildfire raged in Athens’ northern suburbs on Monday, killing at least one person and forcing numerous evacuations as swirling winds hampered the efforts of hundreds of firefighters and dozens of firefighting aircraft.

The fire service announced shortly after midnight that firefighters had found a body in a burnt-out building in the suburb of Vrilissia, but could not initially provide further details.

The fire started on Sunday near Lake Marathon, about 35 kilometers northeast of Athens, spread over the Commuter Mountains and reached the northern suburbs of the capital. Several houses and shops burned down in the suburbs and in the communities near the lake.

Greece was on high alert, but late Monday evening, as winds eased, hope returned and authorities reported progress in battling the huge, fast-spreading fire that had sparked flames more than 24 metres high.

Fire service spokesman Colonel Vassileios Vathrakogiannis said firefighters were no longer fighting a single front, but “many active, localized fires,” especially around Marathon and Pendlei.

The area around Marathon was the site of a famous battle between the Greeks and Persians in 490 BC. Today, there is a museum and an archaeological site here, but there were no reports of damage from the fire.

Greek firefighters were expected to be reinforced by forces from other countries on Tuesday after Athens asked for international assistance and activated the joint European civil protection mechanism.

A blanket of smoke and ash enveloped downtown Athens, while parts of the Greek capital experienced power outages and traffic lights at major traffic junctions were also affected.

Authorities said at least 18 people were injured, most of them from smoke inhalation, as the fire reached the outskirts of a suburb. Greece’s National Observatory said late Monday that satellite images showed the fire had affected about 25,000 acres of land.

France will provide a helicopter and 200 firefighters as well as 28 fire engines, Italy two firefighting planes and the Czech Republic 75 firefighters and 25 vehicles, officials said, while Serbia and Romania are also preparing help. The foreign ministry of neighboring Turkey said it would send two firefighting planes and a helicopter, while Spain was also working to prepare reinforcements for Greece.

The forest fire raged through pine forests that were bone dry from this summer’s repeated heatwaves. June and July were the hottest months in Greece, which also recorded its warmest winter on record. The early start of the fire season this year has put a heavy strain on Greek firefighters.

“The firefighters have been working at full speed for months,” said Nikos Lavranos, head of Greece’s largest firefighters’ union. “They are exhausted.”