Greek authorities ordered thousands to evacuate from different parts of the southern island of Crete, one of the country’s most popular tourist spots, where wildfires burned uncontrollably on Thursday. Firefighters were struggling to contain the blaze as gale-force winds fueled the flames.
Officials said people were evacuated from hotels and residential homes overnight after the fire erupted Wednesday afternoon near Ierapetra, on the island’s southern coast, and continued to burn.
Giorgos Tzarakis, the head of the hoteliers’ association of Ierapetra and southeastern Crete, told local media about 5,000 people in the area had been evacuated, with most of them being tourists who had traveled to the island from abroad. They were sheltering at a sports venue in Ierapetra, CBS News partner BBC News reported
Residents of four villages in the area — Ferma, Katharades, Koutsounari and Kakia Skala — were ordered to evacuate. Meanwhile, Greece’s fire service said the blaze had split into three active fronts at Achlia, Ferma and Skinokapsala, BBC News reported.
BBC News also published video of the fire burning near the beach in Crete, sending a huge smoke plume into the air as beachgoers looked on. All hospitals in Crete were placed on alert as a precaution, according to the outlet.
InTime News via AP 
By Thursday morning, 230 firefighters backed by 10 water-dropping helicopters were battling the flames advancing through forest and farmland.
Gale force winds in the area, with gusts reaching about 50 miles per hour, “are constantly creating … new outbreaks, making firefighting work very difficult,” said fire department spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.
Two people were evacuated by boat overnight, while six private boats were on standby in case further evacuations by sea became necessary, the coast guard said.
Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, told The Associated Press overnight that tourists who had been evacuated from the area had been taken to an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other parts of the island.
Several residents were treated for breathing difficulties, officials said, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
The Fire Service and a civil protection agency issued mobile phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents not to return to try to save their property.
InTime News via AP 
As fires crested ridgelines and edged toward residential areas overnight, the blaze sent clouds of ash into the sky, illuminated by the headlights of emergency vehicles and water trucks that lined the coastal road near the resorts of Ferma and Achlia on the southeast of Crete.
Crete is one of Greece’s most popular destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists.
The risk of wildfires remained very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece Thursday, according to a daily bulletin issued by the Fire Service.
Wildfires are frequent in the country during its hot, dry summers, and the fire department has already tackled dozens across Greece so far this year.
In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned while trying to swim away from the flames.
