Crete tourist guide

Dangerous fire in southern Crete

2026-07-30 12:40:16

Very disturbing news is coming from the southern part of the Rethymno prefecture. Since yesterday afternoon and throughout the night, approximately 200 firefighters have been battling fires in the municipality of Agios Vasileios. Flames appeared near Krya Vrysi around 2:30 p.m., where the largest, 15-kilometer fire front had formed. Evacuation alerts were also issued in Agia Paraskevi and Ligres, and smoke billowing south was visible even on satellite images from the Libyan coast.

Crete's Deputy Regional Director for Civil Defense, Giorgos Tsapakos, announced that residents and tourists in the Triopetra area were evacuated overnight. Residents of Akoumia, Sachtouria, Agia Galini, Orne, Ligres, and Agia Paraskevi were also notified to leave the affected areas immediately. Earlier, authorities also evacuated people from Tripti and Agios Pavlos beaches, where the fire had come particularly close to the shoreline.

Currently, the fight against the fire is still ongoing, and the main problem remains the strong northerly wind, which makes aerial firefighting almost impossible. Yesterday, wind gusts exceeded 90 km/h in Mariou, and reached 114 km/h in Plakias. Today, winds in the Aegean region and on Crete itself are gusting up to 125 km/h. Such extreme conditions are rapidly spreading the fire. A renewed attempt was made to use helicopters this morning, but for safety reasons, water drops had to be abandoned.

Additional firefighting reinforcements from Piraeus are already arriving in Crete. According to the latest forecasts, high winds in the southern part of the island will continue throughout the day, promising an exceptionally difficult fight against the element.

The tragic outcome of the operation also included two fatalities. Two firefighters died while performing their duties: 25-year-old Pantelis Diamantakis and 58-year-old Manolis Stratidakis. The fire truck they were traveling in was cut off by the flames, and the firefighters were unable to evacuate the fire zone in time.

The scale of the fire can be seen in the footage from EUMETSAT's Meteosat-12 satellite – the smoke is seen being carried by the wind for a distance of about 100 kilometres.

Gosia,  2026-07-30 12:40:16

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