At least 230 Athens-based firefighters were trying to contain the blaze that erupted on Wednesday evening near Ierapetra, a town on the island’s southeast coast, on Thursday.
In another place, a wildfire in the northeast of Catalonia claimed the lives of at least two people, and this week, heat-related deaths were also reported in France and Italy.
According to local authorities, the fire on Crete reached hotels and homes, and dozens of residents and visitors were evacuated to an indoor stadium in Ierapetra, according to the local authorities.
More than 1, 000 people left their homes after the evacuation of three settlements. Some patients had respiratory issues, according to George Tsapakos, the deputy civil protection governor of Crete, in an interview with ERT.
Vice-Prefect Yannis Androulakis confirmed that the blaze, which currently has “three active fronts,” was quickly spreading due to the strong winds.
“There are still several different fronts,” she said. He claimed that the fire is destroying crops and scrubland. The Beaufort scale indicates that the winds are “very strong,” with gusts of up to nine.
Androulakis added that water bomber planes couldn’t fly over the affected areas overnight in an interview with the TV station Mega.
According to a Greek fire service spokesperson, the fire was being fought with 10 helicopters and drones.
The fire service warned that Crete and southern Greece’s high risk of wildfires remained in its daily bulletin on Thursday.
According to WWF Greece and the Athens National Observatory, Greece had its warmest summer ever, with 45, 000 hectares (111, 200 acres) of wildfires torched.
Source: Aljazeera
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