ATHENS (AFP) - Greece declared an emergency on the tourist island of Samos.

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Hundreds of tourists were moved to safety on Monday as Greece declared an emergency on the eastern Aegean island of Samos after a large forest fire broke out in a ravine, fire officials said.

Almost 300 Scandinavian tourists, mainly Swedes, travelling with two different tour groups, were affected by the evacuation, Swedish news agency TT reported.

An emergency was declared in the municipalities of Marathokambos and Karlovasi in the west of the island as a force of over 100 firefighters and volunteers backed up by water bombers and helicopters fought the blaze.

A local prefecture official said inhabited areas were not in immediate danger but that hotels had been evacuated as a protective measure to prevent smoke inhalation.

"We have moved the tourists to safe locations, we have buses on standby to move them again if necessary and we have booked alternative accommodation for them elsewhere on the island," said civil protection official Costas Fotopoulos.

The fire, which broke out in a ravine, is the second to ravage the island in a week.

Three shepherds aged 27 to 31 have been arrested on suspicion of starting four separate fires last week which burned around 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of forest and farmland in another part of the island.