A massive wildfire is tearing through the Greek island of Crete, forcing the evacuation of at least 1,500 people from villages, tourist resorts and coastal hotels as strong winds fuel the blaze’s rapid advance.
The fire broke out on Wednesday afternoon in the forested hills near Lerapetra.
Crete is one of Greece’s most popular destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists.
Gale-force winds, gusting up to eight on the Beaufort scale, have driven flames southward across a front now stretching more than 6km, emergency services said.
The fast-moving blaze has already destroyed homes and rental properties in settlements such as Agia Fotia, where local reports say power has been cut.
The Fire Service and a civil protection agency issued mobile phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents not to return to try to save their property.
Authorities have closed major roads near the fire zone and urged residents and holidaymakers to avoid non-essential travel due to hazardous air quality, intense heat and falling ash.
Thick smoke has blanketed the region, reducing visibility and reaching beaches 10km from the fire front.
A map of Lerapertra:
Mass evacuations have been carried out in areas like Achlia, Ferma, Agia Fotia and Koutsounari, with many evacuees sent to Lerapetra’s indoor sports hall for temporary shelter. Emergency alerts have been broadcast throughout the day, instructing people to leave immediately.
“It’s a very difficult situation. The fire is very hard to contain. Right now, they cannot contain it,” Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, told the AP news agency.
“The tourists who were moved out are all okay. They have been taken to an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other regions of the island.”
Some trapped individuals have reportedly been evacuated by boat from isolated beaches.
There have so far been no reports of any major health incidents following the fire.
But at least four people have been taken to the local hospital with respiratory problems due to smoke inhalation, the BBC reported.
All hospitals on the island have been put on alert as a precaution, it reports. The Greek fire department said that more than 230 firefighters are continuing to battle the blaze, along with dozens of engines, specialised forest crews and helicopters deployed. Additional teams and equipment were arriving by sea and air from the mainland to reinforce exhausted local units.
Several people, including elderly residents, have been treated for smoke inhalation and health authorities have placed hospitals on alert across Crete.
“It’s a very difficult situation. The fire is very hard to contain. Right now, they cannot contain it,” Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, told AP overnight.
“The tourists who were moved out are all okay. They have been taken to an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other regions of the island,” he said.
The fire began in an area of dense, flammable vegetation between Agia Fotia and Skinokapsala, with steep slopes, parched ground and gusty winds making containment extremely difficult. Officials say crews will work through the night to protect threatened settlements by creating firebreaks.
The risk of wildfires remains very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece on Thursday, according to a daily bulletin issued by the fire service.
Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean are in an area scientists have called “a wildfire hotspot” with blazes common during hot and dry summers.
These have become more destructive in recent years, authorities say, due to climate crisis.
More than 50,000 people were evacuated this week due to wildfires in the western province of Izmir, as Europe lies in the grip of a deadly heatwave.
In France, hundreds of schools were closed as the temperature gauge hit 40C in Paris on Tuesday, according to the weather service Meteo-France, with a lower high of 35C expected on Wednesday. At least eight people have died as a result of the heatwave, with casualties recorded in Spain, Italy and France. Italy recorded two deaths linked to extreme heat.
In Spain, the southern town of El Granado suffered a record-high temperature of 46C on Saturday, according to the national weather service.
Earlier in the week, Turkey evacuated more than 50,000 people facing wildfires in Izmir province.
