Greek firefighters battle wildfire on popular holiday island of Crete

ATHENS - Hundreds of firefighters battled a blaze on July 3 on the popular holiday island of Crete, which burned 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 fire engines and helicopters, were deployed to contain the conflagration, which broke out a day earlier near lerapetra at the south-eastern coast of the country’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. Some left Crete by boats, the authorities said.

“Three settlements were evacuated and more than 1,000 left their homes. Some with respiratory problems were taken to health centres,” 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 July 3, firefighters fought to tame several resurgent blazes whipped up by winds, said fire brigade spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

“There are wind gusts in the area, some measuring nine on the Beaufort scale, which are triggering rekindling and hindering firefighting efforts,” he said.

July tends 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 hot spot”, with blazes common during hot and dry summers. These have become more destructive in recent years, the 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. REUTERS