The flags of Greece and the EU flutter over the central market in the city of Chania, Cretetax

Anti-Euro protesters march through the streets during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

A man walks by a mural in Athens, Greece July 14, 2015, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faces a showdown with rebels in his own party furious at his capitulation to German demands for one of the most sweeping austerity packages ever demanded of a euro zone government. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Anti-Euro protesters march through the streets during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at his office in Athens just after flying in from Brussels

A protester attracts a swarm of photographers as she burns a Syriza flag outside the Greek parliament in Athens

Anti-Euro protesters march through the streets during an anti-austerity rally in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Demonstrators gather near the Greek Parliament during a rally against the government's agreement with its creditors in Athens, in central Athens, Tuesday, July 14, 2015. The eurozone's top official says it's not easy to find a way to get Greece a short-term cash infusion that will help it meet upcoming debt repayments. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

People demonstrate in front of the stairs leading to the Greek parliament in Athens during an anti-EU demonstration in Athens calling for a 'NO' to any agreement with the creditors on July 13, 2015. Eurozone leaders struck a deal Monday on a bailout to prevent debt-stricken Greece from crashing out of the euro, forcing Athens to push through draconian reforms in a matter of days. AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLAROLOUISA GOULIAMAKI/AFP/Getty Images

Syrian refugees walk through a field near the village of Idomeni at the Greek-Macedonian border, July 14, 2015. The United Nations refugee agency said that Greece urgently needed help to cope with 1,000 migrants arriving each day and called on the European Union (EU) to step in before the humanitarian situation deteriorates further. More than 77,000 people have arrived by sea to Greece so far this year, more than 60 percent of them Syrians, with others fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Somalia, it said. REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, second right, speaks with Luxembourg's Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna , right, and other ministers during a meeting of EU finance ministers at the EU Council building in Brussels on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. British Treasury chief George Osborne arrived to a EU meeting of finance minister with a clear message, don't expect Britain, which is not part of the euro, to pay for any of Greece's rescue money. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Greek Presidential guards conduct their ceremonial march past a banner held by protesters during an anti-austerity rally organized by the country's biggest public sector union ADEDY in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos reacts during a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece July 15, 2015. A lot of the measures in a deal struck with Greece's lenders will have a recessionary effect but removing the prospect of a "Grexit" will help offset their impact and bring in investments, Tsakalotos said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

The Greek flag atop the Parliament is seen through a banner held by a protester during an anti-austerity rally organized by the country's biggest public sector union ADEDY in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Enda Kenny leaves a meeting of eurozone heads at the EU Council building in Brussels

Riot police stand amongst the flames from exploded petrol bombs thrown by a small group of anti-establishment demonstrators in front of parliament in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Riot police run past flames from exploded petrol bombs thrown by a small group of anti-establishment demonstrators in front of parliament in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Riot police stand amongst the flames from exploded petrol bombs thrown by a small group of anti-establishment demonstrators in front of parliament in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Riot police stand amongst the flames from exploded petrol bombs thrown by a small group of anti-austerity demonstrators in front of parliament in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Anti-austerity protesters lift a Greek flag in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens

Riot police stand amongst the flames from exploded petrol bombs thrown by a small group of anti-establishment demonstrators in front of parliament in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Masked anti-establishment youths and anti-austerity protesters are seen through a cloud of tear gas during clashes in Athens, Greece July 15, 2015. Greek anti-establishment protesters threw dozens of petrol bombs at police in front of parliament on Wednesday ahead of a key vote on a bailout deal, in some of the most serious violence in over two years. Police responded with tear gas, sending hundreds of people fleeing in central Syntagma Square. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras reacts during a parliamentary session in Athens, Greece July 16, 2015. The Greek parliament passed a sweeping package of austerity measures demanded by European partners as the price for opening talks on a multi-billion euro bailout package needed to keep the near-bankrupt country in the euro zone. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Protesters gather in front of the Greek Parliament during an anti-austerity rally organized by the country's biggest public sector union ADEDY in Athens, Greece REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier

Riot police run as they disperse protesters during clashes in Athens, Greece July 15, 2015. Greek anti-establishment protesters threw dozens of petrol bombs at police in front of parliament on Wednesday ahead of a key vote on a bailout deal, in some of the most serious violence in over two years. Police responded with tear gas, sending hundreds of people fleeing in central Syntagma Square. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, right, speaks with Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos during a parliament meeting in Athens (AP)

A demonstrator protests against the third bailout for Greece outside Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, July 17, 2015. German parliament meets to decide whether to allow Berlin to start negotiations on a third bailout for Greece. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it clear she does not want to see a Grexit that could disrupt the ailing European economy and undermine a supposedly irreversible union

A firefighting helicopter drops water at a raging wildfire at the Kareas suburb, east of Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Smoke rises as a wildfire rages at the Kareas suburb, east of Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A firefighting helicopter drops water at a raging wildfire at the Kareas suburb, east of Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

Smoke rises as a wildfire rages at the Kareas suburb, east of Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A Greek national flag flutters atop the parliament building as smoke from a raging wildfire rises in Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis

A firefighting helicopter drops water on a raging wildfire at the Kareas suburb, east of Athens, Greece July 17, 2015. Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Dozens of Athens residents fled their homes on Friday as wildfires fanned by strong winds and high temperatures burned through woodland around the Greek capital, sending clouds of smoke billowing over the city.

The fires are compounding the problems facing the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, which is struggling to obtain a fresh bailout from foreign creditors.

Tsipras, who may delay a reshuffle of his cabinet - expected on Friday - because of the emergency, urged calm as more than 80 firefighters with 18 fire engines and three aircraft battled the flames, which a Reuters photographer said were near homes.

A neighborhood playground burned to the ground and flames surrounded the local church. Dozens of people, including elderly women covering their faces with headscarves, tried to put out the flams with buckets of water.

"We all need to stay calm," Tsipras told reporters.

Tsipras said he had asked the air force and armed forces for help and had also appealed to other European countries for assistance with extra fire-fighting aircraft.

Forest fires are common during the summer months in Greece but memories remain vivid of the huge damage and heavy loss of life caused in 2007, during the most serious outbreak of the past few years.

"The situation is difficult," said Michalis Karagiannis, deputy mayor of Vyronas, one of the suburbs near the flames.

So far, no one has been reported injured, fire brigade officials said.

Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who spoke to Greek TV from the scene with a protective mask across his face, said: "We are all making an effort to stop the worst."

He was heckled by angry residents who accused him of doing "micro politics" and urged him to "take off your jacket and help."

Separately, wildfires burned through rural land on the island of Evia near Athens and in the region of Laconia in the Peloponnese where one fire-fighting aircraft was forced into an emergency landing, according to the regional governor.

State television reported the fire's front was over 15 km long and one health centre in the region was preparing to evacuate patients. A police source said a 58-year-old died after inhaling fumes and suffering respiratory problems.

"Things are very bad," Peloponnese Governor Petros Tatoulis told state television. "The situation is critical. We are working to prevent casualties."

Meanwhile, German lawmakers gave their go ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whose backing is essential for the talks to start, decisively approved the move by 439 votes to 119, with 40 abstentions.

Popular misgivings run deep in Germany, the euro zone country which has already contributed most to Greece's two bailouts since 2010, about funnelling yet more aid to Athens.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has questioned whether a new programme will succeed, although the creditors' offer to Athens includes the conditions for more austerity and economic reform that Berlin had demanded.

But Merkel argued for negotiating a new deal to prevent a Greek exit from the euro - the "Grexit" that might undermine the entire currency union - and said suggestions Athens might temporarily leave the euro wouldn't work.

"The alternative to this agreement would not be a 'time-out' from the euro ... but rather predictable chaos," she told the Bundestag. "We would be grossly negligent, and act irresponsibly, if we didn't at least attempt this way."

Schaeuble himself has suggested that Greece might be better off taking such a time-out from the euro zone to sort out its daunting economic problems.

But the conservative chancellor said neither Greece nor the other 18 euro zone member countries were willing to accept the idea. "Therefore this way was not viable," she added.

She still thanked Schaeuble - her most powerful ally - for his work in the long, gruelling talks which produced the new bailout plan last weekend. Lawmakers gave him resounding applause while Schaeuble nodded and gave a wry smile.

Despite his misgivings, Schaeuble lined up with his boss. "I ask you all to vote for this request today. The government didn't submit the request easily," he told the Bundestag. "It's a last attempt to fulfil this extraordinarily difficult task."

Merkel also won support from the Social Democrats, the junior coalition partner. "Every debate about a Grexit must now belong to the past," said Social Democrat leader Sigmar Gabriel, who is also vice chancellor.

SEVEN REASONS

That view is far from unanimous across the nation.

"Seven reasons why the Bundestag should vote 'No' today," ran a headline in the mass-selling Bild daily before the debate, listing 'Grexit is the better solution' and 'our grandchildren will pay' among its reasons.

The Greek parliament approved the new bailout offer in the early hours of Thursday, although Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had to rely on opposition support after some lawmakers from his left-wing Syriza party rebelled.

Tsipras moved on Friday to replace his energy minister, one of the rebels, a government source said.

Some Syriza members refuse to accept the demands for yet more austerity and reform included in the deal with Greece's creditors. The Greek electorate had already rejected an earlier offer in a referendum, and the latest is even tougher.

Still, the Greek parliamentary approval opened the way for European action to stave off Grexit, at least for the time being. The European Central Bank increased emergency funding to keep the country's banks from collapse on Thursday.

European Union finance ministers also approved 7 billion euros in bridge loans to Greece, allowing it to avoid defaulting on a bond payment to the ECB next Monday and clear its arrears with the IMF.

With Merkel under domestic pressure from lawmakers who have lost trust in Greece, the creditors agreed the tough deal at the weekend demanding that Athens cut pensions, raise value-added tax, and set aside 50 billion euros ($54 billion) of state assets to sell off.

Before the Bundestag debate, Conservative lawmaker Mark Helfrich told Deutschlandfunk radio he would still vote 'No', adding: "This is about ruined trust."

Some members of the opposition Greens said they wanted Greece to stay in the euro but rejected austerity as a cure for its ills, leaving abstention as their only option.

"Another bloodletting won't make Greece more healthy again," said lawmaker Katrin Goering-Eckhardt, backing IMF calls for Greece's debt burden to be eased.

That fell on deaf ears with Merkel and Schaeuble, who said European law did not permit a "haircut" writing off part of the debt.

German conservatives have accused Tsipras of blackmail for saying other weaker euro zone countries would slide into crisis if Greece were forced out of the euro. But Gregor Gysi of the Left party, Syriza's ideological counterpart in Germany, turned the tables.

"You're not being blackmailed - you're the blackmailers yourselves" said Gysi. "Mr Schaeuble, I'm sorry but you're in the process of destroying the European idea."

Reuters