Villagers protect their homes from Greece's fires

On Greece's Evia island, wildfires rage on.

Residents faced yet another difficult night from blazes ripping through the north.

But one village is refusing to listen to calls by authorities to leave their homes.

Some 60 people live here in Avgaria, and they have been on a continuous night patrol to keep the fires encircling their village away from inhabitants' homes.

Ioannis Aggelopoulos has even mounted a makeshift fire hose pump onto the back of his truck.

"The police came, they told us to evacuate the village, but unfortunately we cannot evacuate because this is our property, and we have the impression that if we leave our homes will be burned... We haven't slept in three days, we have been sleeping in shifts."

Winds picked up as night fell in Avgaria, which caused new flare-ups.

But despite the danger, local Ioanna Metaksioti refused to leave too.

"There is no way we will leave the village, because I believe I can help in some way.... We are very afraid, but we have to stay."

Police say that late on Monday (August 10), fires had flared up in around six villages including Avgaria.

More than 600 firefighters were tackling the blaze on Evia island, which erupted a week ago, including foreign forces from elsewhere in Europe and the Balkans.

Athens' National Observatory said at least 65,000 hectares of land have been burned in fires in Greece - 46,000 in Evia alone.

Scores have already been evacuated by ferry from the island.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis apologized on Monday for any failures in tackling the fires, promising to correct mistakes and pledging compensation to those that've lost property.