Residents of the island of Lesbos were evacuated Saturday as a forest fire, which started in the mountain forests in the east of the island, began threatening properties at the beach resort of Vatera, Reuters reported.

Thick billowing smoke could be seen in the area.

Vatera, an 8 km (five miles) long sandy beach in the southern part of Lesbos, is a popular tourist spot

A forest fire in the mountains near Athens earlier this week damaged homes and forced hundreds to flee, and authorities called it one of the harshest summers in the Mediterranean.

Last year, wildfires destroyed some 121,000 hectares of forests and across Greece during the country's worst heat wave in 30 years.