Wildfire on the Greek island of Crete causes evacuations of hotels and homes
A wildfire on the Greek island of Crete has caused the evacuation of more than 1,500 people from hotels and homes early on Thursday in the Ierapetra area.
Firefighters are battling a wildfire on the south coast of Crete which has prompted the evacuation of hotels and homes.
Residents have called the fire, which caused three evacuation orders outside the port of Ierapetra, a "complete disaster".
Strong winds have made the firefighters' task especially difficult, with the flames to sweep through hillside forests.
The areas of Ferma, Agia Fotia and Koutsounari have been badly affected, according to local media. In Agia Fotia, residents described the destruction as “biblical”, saying the fire destroyed everything in its path.
An emergency alert had been sent around on Wednesday evening, leading to the evacuation of the aforementioned areas. Evacuation orders were also issued for the villages of Achlia and Galini.
Evacuations of houses and hotels continued throughout the night, while people who had taken refuge on the beach were evacuated by boat.
There have been no casualties at the time of writing, though some people were reportedly taken to hospital with respiratory problems.
“It’s a very difficult situation. The fire is very hard to contain. Right now, they cannot contain it,” said Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority.
The fire department said 230 firefighters backed by 10 water-dropping aircraft
Crete is one of Greece's most popular tourist destinations, and the risk of wildfires remains high on the island as well as in other parts of southern Greece.
More than 1,000 evacuated as fierce winds
stoke wildfire on Crete
A wildfire stoked by gale-force winds burned overnight and into Thursday on Greece’s southern island of Crete, turning swathes of forest and olive groves into ashes and forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 locals and tourists, officials said.
Issued on: 03/07/2025 -
By: FRANCE 24
Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze Thursday on Crete island, which burnt swathes of forest and olive groves and forced the evacuation of over 1,000 people, officials said, underscoring the region's vulnerability to destructive wildfires.
At least 230 firefighters, along with 46 engines and helicopters, were deployed to contain the conflagration, which broke out a day earlier near Ierapetra town on the southeastern coast of Greece's largest island.
Stoked by gale-force winds, the blaze reached houses and hotels, fire brigade and local officials said, with local media reporting damage to some homes but no injuries.
Scores of residents and tourists were evacuated and moved to a temporary shelter at an indoor stadium in Ierapetra.
Watch more Greece hit by heatwave and wildfires
Some left Crete by boats, authorities said.
"Three settlements were evacuated and more than 1,000 left their homes. Some were taken to health centres with respiratory problems," Crete's deputy civil protection governor, George Tsapakos, told public broadcaster ERT. ERT footage showed a water bomber flying over an area thick with grey smoke.
Alongside reinforcements from Athens on Thursday, firefighters fought to tame several resurgent blazes whipped up by winds, fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said.
"There are wind gusts in the area, some measuring 9 on the Beaufort scale, which are triggering rekindling and hindering firefighting efforts," Vathrakogiannis said.
July tended to be the most difficult month of the fire season due to high temperatures and strong winds, he said.
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 a fast-changing climate.
Thousands have fled wildfires in Turkey and at least eight people have died as a result of a heatwave in Europe.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)
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