Hundreds of firefighters were battling a massive wildfire from the ground and the air on the Greek island of Crete. Photo by Nikos Chalkiadakis/EPA
As many as 1,500 people were evacuated from areas of the Greek island of Crete as wildfires burned out of control, fanned by gale-force winds, authorities said.
The fire, centered in the far southeast of the island, broke out in a forested area Wednesday, rapidly spreading toward the town of Ierapetra, forcing authorities to order residents and tourists in five surrounding settlements to move.
Some people whose escape routes were cut off by the fire had to be rescued from beaches by boat. At least four elderly people were hospitalized with respiratory problems due to smoke inhalation.
Displaced people were provided with makeshift accommodation in Ierapetra in an indoor sports center or hotel rooms, where available.
More than 150 firefighters, 38 fire trucks and four helicopters dropping water were deployed with two specialist forest-firefighting units from the Greek mainland en route to the scene to provide back-up.
That number rose to more than 230 on Thursday, but firefighters, facing a wall of flames almost four miles across with visibility down to zero, were forced into a tactical retreat for safety reasons and to focus on firebreaks to protect settlements being threatened by the fire.
Homes and rental properties in the beachfront village of Agia Fotia, 8 miles east of Ierapetra, have been destroyed and the settlement and surrounding area were without power.
The fire service, which has been issuing alerts and evacuation instructions via mobile phone messaging, warned in its daily update that the risk of wildfires remained high across Crete and parts of southern Greece.
The emergency on Crete came after authorities in Turkey’s nearby Izmur region evacuated 50,000 people in the face of wildfires in recent days.
Scientists have designated the Mediterranean, including much of Greece, a “wildfire hotspot” as blazes become ever more frequent and destructive during hot, parched summers. Governments of the affected countries say the climate crisis is the cause.
All of Europe is currently sweltering in a deadly heatwave with temperatures topping out at 46 degrees Celsius in southern Spain and 40 degrees Celsius in Paris, although temperatures in the eastern Mediterranean held closer to normal in the high 20s to low 30s degrees Celsius.
Spain, Italy and France recorded at least eight deaths connected to the extreme heat.
