Crete wildfire kills 2 firefighters, forces 8,000 out

A wildfire on the Greek island of Crete killed two firefighters and forced about 8,000 people to evacuate from the resort village of Agia Galini, a local official said.

Maria Lioni, deputy governor of the Rethymno area, told state TV ERT that the evacuations took place late Wednesday as the fire threatened the village. The blaze, which broke out Wednesday and continued to burn Thursday, came within one kilometre of Agia Galini before changing direction in the evening.

Two firefighters were trapped on a mountain road near the village of Krya Vrysi and died as winds kept changing direction. A third firefighter collapsed and died during efforts to put out a separate fire near Gytheio in the Peloponnese peninsula.

Lioni said the Crete fire was believed to have burned homes, agricultural facilities and farm animals, but the toll was unclear because the fire was still ongoing.

The fire department deployed more than 200 firefighters and 53 fire engines in the Rethymno area of southwestern Crete. Winds of up to 102 kilometres an hour prevented most aircraft from taking on seawater.

A coastguard spokesman told AFP that four patrol boats were ready at Agia Galini to help with additional evacuations, including one from the EU border agency Frontex, but said conditions were extremely difficult.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid tribute to the firefighters who died and said firefighters, volunteers and security forces were battling fire fronts in a harsh reality they faced every year.

Greece faces destructive wildfires almost every summer. The civil protection ministry placed several areas on near-maximum fire alert for Thursday, including Crete, the greater Athens area, the eastern Peloponnese and most of the Aegean islands.