ATHENS, Greece -- Hundreds of firefighters, assisted by waterbombing planes and volunteers, have made significant progress in containing a deadly forest blaze burning for four days in southern Greece, authorities said Wednesday.

The fire service stated that the blaze, which claimed the lives of two local residents on Sunday, is subsiding, with firefighting crews concentrating on extinguishing scattered smaller fires within the ravaged area.

Based on satellite maps released by Greece's weather service, the fire impacted approximately 6,500 hectares (16,000 acres) of rugged, mountainous terrain in the Corinthia area of the Peloponnese region.

Approximately 570 firefighters were engaged in the operation on Wednesday, along with 160 fire trucks and 11 aircraft. This includes three from Italy and Croatia, dispatched after Greece requested assistance from its fellow European Union members.

Over half a dozen villages were ordered evacuated as a precautionary measure between Sunday and Tuesday, though firefighters managed to prevent the flames from spreading into these settlements. Several outlying buildings have reportedly been damaged, and a historic church in the area was completely destroyed.

Greece, like other southern European nations , experiences devastating, and often fatal, forest fires every summer. This year, a combination of drought linked to climate change , high spring temperatures and summer heatwaves has resulted in a record-breaking number of over 4,500 blazes so far.

Many of these fires erupted outside the typical summer months when wildfires are usually anticipated.

The origin of the fire in Corinthia remains unclear, although officials suggest that human error is a likely cause.