The coast guard carried out numerous evacuations on Wednesday, according to footage released by the port police, as the fire got to within a kilometre of the village before changing direction in the evening.
The fire is believed to have burned down homes, agricultural facilities and farm animals, but the toll is unclear as it is ongoing, Lioni said.
Two firefighters were trapped on a mountain road near the village of Krya Vrysi and died as the winds kept changing direction.
“It was a dark day,” Lioni said.
A third firefighter collapsed and died during efforts to put out a separate fire near Gytheio in the Peloponnese peninsula.
“SCARED”
“All evening and throughout the night, we watched the fire,” she told AFP by phone.
Schmidt, who was holidaying on the picturesque island with her family, said they were unable to return to their hotel following an evacuation order.
“We called the hotel and asked them to pick us up. We were scared. We had no luggage, no documents, just our bathing suits,” she said.
“We wanted to go back to get our passports and money, but there were firefighters everywhere. About one kilometre from the hotel, we had to turn around.”
She said the family was able to return to the hotel the following day.
On Thursday afternoon, a second fire broke out near the village of Asomatos, about 60 kilometres from the site of the first blaze, the fire service said, prompting authorities to order precautionary evacuations.
