Wildfires in Greece: blaze out of control in Rethymno, Crete

Dozens of rural and forest fires broke out in Greece within 24 hours, while gale-force winds made firefighting operations difficult in many parts of the country.From 6 pm on Tuesday to 6 pm on Wednesday, the Greek Fire Service recorded 37 rural and forest fires. Thirty were tackled immediately, while operations were still under way in seven cases. The most serious fronts were in southern Crete and in Plomari on Lesbos, in the northern Aegean.The largest and most challenging fire was still burning on Thursday morning in southern Rethymno, where two firefighters lost their lives during the operation.The blaze triggered evacuations in villages and tourist areas and damaged homes, crops and livestock facilities, while strong winds significantly limited aerial assets' ability to intervene.Fire in southern Rethymno out of controlThe fire broke out at around 14:30 on Wednesday in low vegetation near Krya Vrysi, in the municipality of Agios Vasileios, on the southern side of Crete.Driven by very strong northerly winds, the flames spread rapidly towards settlements and tourist areas mostly along the southern coast of Crete, including Melambes, Sachtouria, Kryopetra, Agios Pavlos, Agios Georgios, Orne and Agia Galini.On Thursday morning, officials from the Region of Crete said the total active front exceeded 15 kilometres. The full perimeter of the fire and the extent of the burned land had not yet been officially calculated.Maria Lioni, deputy regional governor of Rethymno, spoke of a "nightmare night and nightmare day", stressing that the damage is extensive but a full assessment cannot be carried out while the fire is still burning.More than 220 firefighters on the groundThe operation involves 224 firefighters, 11 specialised forest firefighting units on foot, 53 fire engines and volunteers.The on-foot firefighters come from the Special Forest Operations Units, the Fire Service’s specialised teams that operate in forested and hard-to-access areas. Reinforcements arrived in Crete by ferry from mainland Greece on Thursday morning.The operation is being supported by water tankers and heavy machinery from the municipality of Agios Vasileios, the Region of Crete, neighbouring municipalities and private owners.Seven ambulances from the National Emergency Aid Centre remain on standby in the wider area of Krya Vrysi, Orne and Agia Galini.The mobilisation also involves the Hellenic Police and the Hellenic Coast Guard.Winds hinder aerial operationsTwo helicopters had been deployed for aerial firefighting, but the very strong winds prevented them from safely conducting continuous water drops on Thursday morning.Aerial assets had operated for a limited period on Wednesday but were forced to withdraw when conditions deteriorated.According to the regional authorities, winds on the southern side of Rethymno reached 10-11 on the Beaufort scale or severe storm-force gales in places. Weather stations of the National Observatory of Athens recorded gusts exceeding 100 kilometres per hour.Ground forces worked throughout the night to contain scattered hotspots and prevent the fire from spreading towards inhabited areas.Initial reports speak of damage to homes, farms, arable land, pasture and livestock facilities. Animal losses have also been recorded.There is still no official overall count of destroyed homes or agricultural installations, nor a confirmed estimate of the burned area. Local authorities stress that the assessment will begin once safe access to the affected areas is possible.Successive evacuation ordersThe Greek emergency service 112, which sends mass warning messages to the mobile phones of people in a dangerous area, was repeatedly activated from Wednesday afternoon.In total, six warning messages were sent from the time the fire broke out, most of them urging residents and tourists to evacuate the hazardous areas.Agia Galini, a tourist settlement on Crete’s southern coast, was evacuated in an organised manner by land, with the assistance of the police.According to Maria Lioni, around 8,000 residents and visitors were evacuated from the area. This figure is an estimate by the regional administration and not a final count of those displaced.The Greek Coast Guard also carried out operations to evacuate residents and tourists from Agios Pavlos and Triopetra by sea, as buses could not reach these areas via the road network. The published figures for the number of people transported by boat vary, so there is not yet a reliable, single total.Temporary shelter in a sports hall and hotelsAbout 700 people were taken to the indoor sports hall of the municipality of Phaistos, in Moires in Heraklion, where beds, mattresses and basic necessities had been set up. Other visitors were transferred, with the assistance of travel agencies and hotel operators, to available accommodation in safe areas of Crete.The municipal authorities had also placed school buildings on standby in case additional shelter space was required."We welcomed the people who were forced to leave. Some departed under the care of travel agencies, but most were accommodated here," said Phaistos mayor Grigoris Nikolidakis, adding that beds, clean sheets, food and other essentials were brought in.The Ministry of Tourism, in cooperation with the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels, also activated a special online platform to provide temporary accommodation for those forced to abandon their homes or tourist lodgings.Funerals of the two firefighters heldMeanwhile, Rethymno and the municipality of Amari are bidding farewell on Thursday to the two firefighters who lost their lives during the operation at Krya Vrysi.They are 25-year-old seasonal firefighter Pantelis Diamantakis and 58-year-old firefighter on a five-year contract, Emmanouil "Manolis" Stratidakis. Both were from the Amari area.The Greek Fire Service has confirmed that the two men died while taking part in the firefighting operation. The exact circumstances in which they became trapped have not yet been set out in a detailed official report.The fire was recorded by Meteosat-12, a European weather satellite operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.The satellite image showed the approximate location of the fire and the plume, the extensive column of smoke.The smoke, not the fire itself, was carried by the winds around 100 kilometres southwards, over the sea. The image was analysed by the scientific team of the National Observatory of Athens.No single active front on Lesbos, but fire not yet containedIn Plomari on Lesbos, the situation was improving on Thursday morning, with no single continuous active front. However, the fire had not yet been declared contained, as flare-ups were ongoing and strong northerly winds were keeping the risk of renewed spread high.The overnight operation focused on preventing the fire from spreading into unburned areas and extinguishing hotspots within olive groves. Burning olive trees and difficult terrain make fully extinguishing the hotspots harder.More than 1,000 stremmas — roughly 100 hectares — have burned, mainly olive cultivation and pine forest.Ninety-two firefighters, five specialised forest firefighting units on foot and 19 vehicles are operating in the area, together with volunteers.The on-foot units include 34 firefighters, 20 of whom were brought in from Thessaloniki, in northern Greece, to reinforce local forces.With the first light of day, targeted water drops by aerial assets resumed. The goal was to limit flare-ups before the winds were expected to strengthen after midday.Northerly winds intermittently exceeded force eight on the Beaufort scale, increasing the risk of embers being carried into areas that had not burned.After the fire broke out, an emergency message from 112 was sent for the precautionary relocation of residents and visitors towards Agios Isidoros.The air over Lesbos was also burdened by smoke transported across the Aegean from multiple fires along Turkey’s western coast. The movement of this smoke towards Lesbos was likewise recorded by Meteosat-12.Very high wildfire risk in much of GreeceA very high risk of wildfire (risk category 4) is forecast for today, Thursday, in Attica, Crete, the Cyclades, islands of the Region of Northern Aegean and many areas of the Regions of Peloponnese and Central Greece, according to the Wildfire Risk Forecast Map issued by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection.A very high risk of wildfire is forecast for Thursday in the regions of Attica (including the island of Kythira), Peloponnese, Central Greece (including the island of Skyros), Northern Aegean (Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Ikaria), Southern Aegean (the Cyclades), and Crete.The General Secretariat for Civil Protection of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection has informed the competent state services involved, as well as the regions and municipalities in the above areas, so that they remain on heightened civil protection alert to respond immediately to any wildfire incidents.At the same time, the Greek General Secretariat for Civil Protection urges citizens to be particularly careful and to avoid activities in the countryside that could cause a fire through negligence, such as burning dry grass and branches or cleaning residues, using machinery that produces sparks such as circular saws and welding equipment, using outdoor barbecues, smoking out bees, throwing lit cigarettes, etc. It also reminds the public that burning fields is prohibited during the fire season.If they detect a fire, citizens and visitors are asked to immediately notify the Fire Service by calling 199.For more information and self-protection guidelines on forest fires, citizens and tourists can visit the General Secretariat for Civil Protection website at civilprotection.gov.gr.