Forest fires on the Greek island of Crete Miles to evacuate

The Greek authorities ordered thousands of evacuations from different parts of the southern island of Crete, one of the most popular tourist places in the country, where forest fires were burned uncontrollably on Thursday. Firefighters were struggling to contain the fire while hamburger strength winds fed the flames.

The authorities said that people were evacuated from hotels and residential houses during the night after the fire exploded on Wednesday afternoon near Iierapetra, on the southern coast of the island, and continued burning.

Giorgos Tzaakis, head of the Irapera and Southeastern Crete hotel association, told local media that some 5,000 people in the area had been evacuated, and most of them were tourists who had traveled to the island from abroad. They were taking refuge in a sports place in Irapera, said News themezone BBC News partner

The residents of four villages in the area – Ferma, Katharades, Koutsounari and Kakia Skala – received the order to evacuate. Meanwhile, the Greece Fire Service said the fire had been divided into three active fronts in Achlia, Ferma and Skinokapsala, BBC News reported.

BBC News also published a video of the fire that burned near the beach in Crete, sending a huge plume of smoke in the air while beach lovers looked. All hospitals in Crete were put on alert as caution, according to the exit.

For Thursday morning, 230 firefighters backed by 10 water helicopters were fighting the flames that advanced through forests and farmland.

Gale Force Winds in the area, with bursts that reach approximately 50 miles per hour, “are constantly creating … new outbreaks, which makes fire work difficult,” said the spokesman for the Vassilis Vathrakogiannis fire department.

Two people were evacuated in boat during the night, while six private boats were waiting in case more evacuations were made by sea, the Coast Guard said.

Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection officer of the regional authority, told News during the night that tourists who had been evacuated in the area had been taken to a base and basketball inland hotels in other parts of the island.

Several residents were treated for breathing difficulties, authorities said, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

The Fire Service and a Civil Protection Agency issued mobile phone alerts for evacuations and appealed to residents who do not return to try to save their property.

As the fires grew ridges and surpassed to the residential areas during the night, the fire sent clouds of ashes to the sky, illuminated by the headlights of the emergency vehicles and the water trucks that were aligned on the coastal road near the tourist centers of Ferma and Achlia in the southeast of Crete.

Crete is one of Greece’s most popular destinations for foreign and national tourists.

The risk of forest fires remained very high in Crete and parts of southern Greece on Thursday, according to a daily newsletter issued by the Fire Service.

Forest fires are frequent in the country during their hot and dry summers, and the Fire Department has already addressed dozens in Greece so far this year.

In 2018, A mass fire swept by Mati’s coastal cityeast of Athens, catching people in their homes and on the roads while trying to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned while trying to swim away from the flames.

• Crete
• Greece
• Fire