Firefighters and residents battled into the night Monday for a seventh day against a massive fire on Greece's second-largest island as the nation endured what the prime minister described as "a natural disaster of unprecedented proportions."

Smoke and ash from Evia, a rugged island of forests and coves close to the Greek mainland, blocked out the sun and turned the sky orange.

The fire, which began on August 3, is the most severe of hundreds in the past week across Greece, gobbling up pristine pine forests as well as homes and businesses and forcing hundreds to quickly evacuate by sea to save their lives.

Greece has been baked by its worst heat wave in three decades, which sent temperatures up to 45C (113F) and turned its prized pine forests into bone-dry tinderboxes.

In a televised nationwide address, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the destruction in Evia and elsewhere "blackens everyone's hearts" and pledged compensation for all affected, as well as a huge reforestation and regeneration effort.

He also apologised for "any weaknesses" shown in addressing the emergency, a nod to criticism from some residents and officials who said Greece's firefighting efforts and equipment were woefully inadequate.

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