Collective evacuation operations as the fire was broken near Erbetra, Crete

There is still a huge huge fire in Greece burning out of control in the eastern Crete Island, after its outbreak on Wednesday afternoon in rough forest terrain near the municipality of Erbetra.

It was postponed by the winds of the storm, which reaches eight on the Bouvort scale, and the fire spread quickly south, where homes, tourist residence, and critical infrastructure, including the fuel station.

The firefighting front now extends to at least 6 kilometers, according to emergency services, which makes containment difficult.

Dip smoke immersed the broader area, which reduces visibility to zero in places.

Smoke extended as much as Macri Gialos Beach, 10 kilometers from Aklla in Lasethi, where firefighters were fighting the fire.

The main road near the AGIA Fotia settlement was closed by the police, who urged residents and visitors to avoid all unnecessary travel due to dangerous air quality, intense heat and falling ash.

In the AGIA Fotia settlement, homes and rental properties have been destroyed, and the area is witnessing power outages, according to local reports. At least four elderly people have been transferred to the hospital with respiratory problems caused by inhalation of smoke.

As a preventive measure, all hospitals were placed on Crete on alert by health authorities.

The authorities also ordered the collective evacuation of hotels, rental rooms and homes in the Municipality of Verma, with the approaching of the area. The process is conducted with the support of the firefighting service, the police and local volunteers.

So far, about 1500 people have been evacuated from the surrounding settlements and tourist areas and moved to the iirapetra. About 200 were evacuated in the city’s internal sport square.

Fire control response has been greatly strengthened. As of Wednesday night, 155 firefighters are operating, eight specialized teams, and 38 fire engines on the ground. Four helicopters carried out water drops until dark. Local municipalities also published water tanks and heavy machines.

Additional powers on the way. Seventeen firefighters and one foot team traveling from Emode first (the Forest Forest Control Unit) travels with Piraeus, along with five fire engines, while 33 firefighters and four additional teams from Emode from Elefsina air are scheduled.

According to ERT, the firefighting service ordered the tactical withdrawal from the Fire Front to protect employees and determine the priorities of the creation of fires around the settlements at risk. The crews are expected to remain on the ground all night.

Emergency alerts were issued via the 112th general warning system throughout the day, called for the evacuation of Achlia, Ferma, Agia Fotia, Galini, and Koutsounari later, to direct residents and tourists to move towards iirapetra.

According to what was reported, some individuals who were cut off by the road were evacuated by the boat from local beaches.

The fire, which is believed to have begun between Agia Fotia and the village of Skinokapsala, is still burning through dense and flammable forests, with highly slope terrain, dry conditions and strong winds, making containment very difficult.

Earlier this week in Türkiye, more than 50,000 people were evacuated due to forest fires in the West Isder Province.

At least six heat -related deaths were reported in Europe Also the continent rollers are under the early summer heat wave. The latest recorded deaths were in Spain and Italy. There were also victims in France.