Greece battles major wildfires across Crete as winds intensify

A major wildfire continued to burn in southern Rethymno, Greece, on Friday, with more than 270 firefighters battling multiple fronts across Crete as strong winds hampered containment efforts.

The largest operation remained focused on the municipality of Agios Vasileios in southern Rethymno, where firefighters were deployed around Krya Vrysi, Agia Paraskevi and the Preveli area, CE Report quotes ANA-MPA.

Reinforcements from across Crete and mainland Greece, including specialised forest firefighting units, joined the effort.

Firefighters worked through the night to prevent the flames from reaching homes in Agia Paraskevi until aerial firefighting aircraft resumed operations at first light.

Local residents and volunteers also assisted, while municipal water tankers and heavy machinery from neighbouring municipalities supported firefighting operations.

Authorities said conditions had improved significantly near Atherinolakkos in the Sitia region of eastern Crete, where the fire was confined to mountainous terrain and no longer threatened populated areas. The fronts at Agia Triada and Atherinolakkos were described as receding, although firefighting crews remained on high alert because of persistent strong winds.

The fires have already burned extensive areas of land in southern Rethymno over the past two days. According to preliminary estimates based on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery analysed by the National Observatory of Athens' Copernicus team, around 45,000 stremmas have been affected, excluding damage from the latest blaze in the wider Preveli area.

Investigators are examining the cause of the wildfire, which is believed to have started near Krya Vrysi.

Fire officials said several smaller wildfires also broke out in other parts of Crete but were quickly contained before requiring significant firefighting resources.

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