Thursday, July 30 – Throughout the night, firefighting forces have been fighting a titanic battle to contain the flames that burned agricultural and arable land, pastures, farms, homes and livestock in the Rethymno area on the island of Crete. However, at present, the fires are reported to be out of control and concern is growing as wind speeds are increasing.

Sadly, two firefighters lost their lives in the fires, a 58-year-old and a 25-year-old, who, according to initial information, were trapped by the conflagration and overwhelmed. Their funerals will be held today.

The fire is being fought by  224 firefighters, with 11 groups of volunteers and 53 vehicles, while 2 helicopters have been allocated for aerial firefighting; the firefighters are assisted by water tankers and construction machinery supplied by the civil protection authorities. Further reinforcements are expected to arrive today from the mainland and nearby islands. However, strong winds have been keeping water-dumping aircraft grounded, with the forecast predicting that winds will strengthen even further.

Strong winds have been keeping water-dumping aircraft grounded.

Late last night, a directive was issued for the evacuation of over 8,000 people in the wider Ligres area towards the communities of Agalianos and Kerames and the wider area of ​​Agia Paraskevi towards Agalianos and Kerames as the fires, fanned by strong winds, threatened villages and tourist resorts.

Another major wildfire is continuing to burn near Plomari on the northern Aegean island of Lesvos, where firefighters were supported by aerial assets and municipal crews. Police and coast guard units remained on standby as the island also faced increasingly dangerous conditions with strong winds raising the danger of flare-ups.

Regarding Greece as a whole, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection has issued a warning that six regions of the country have been raised to the highest level of fire risk (level 4). These are the regions of Attica, the Peloponnese, Central Greece, the North Aegean region, the South Aegean region, and Crete. Below is the fire risk map for Friday, July 31.

Yellow areas are at high risk, whereas orange areas are at very high risk.