'The risk of fire will be extreme': New evacuations ordered in Greece

19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved out of the path of the fire in Rhodes over the weekend 

Tourists are being evacuated during a forest fire on the island of Rhodes, Greece, Saturday, July 22, 2023. Picture: Rodos via AP

A week-long wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes has torn past defences, forcing more evacuations, as three blazes rage elsewhere in the country fuelled by strong winds and successive heatwaves.

The latest evacuations were ordered in south Rhodes on Monday after 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats over the weekend out of the path of the fire that reached several coastal areas from nearby mountains.

Help continued to arrive from the European Union and elsewhere, with Turkish firefighting planes joining the effort in Rhodes, where eight water-dropping planes and 10 helicopters buzzed over flames up to 16 feet tall despite low visibility.

Evacuees wait to board buses as they leave their Rhodes hotel on Sunday (Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi/AP)

“The risk of fire will be extreme in several areas of Greece today,” fire service spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said on Monday, a day after temperatures on the southern Greek mainland soared as high as 45C.

Overnight, evacuations were also ordered on the western island of Corfu, where more than 2,000 people including tourists were moved to safety, on the island of Evia and in a mountainous area in the southern Peloponnese region.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen contacted Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis late on Sunday to offer additional assistance.

A cloud of smoke from a forest fire rises over Rhodes (Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi/AP)

“I called (Prime Minister) Mitsotakis to express our full support for Greece, which is confronted with devastating forest fires and a heavy heat wave due to climate change,” she tweeted.

I called @KMitsotakis to express our full support for Greece, which is confronted with devastating forest fires and a heavy heat wave due to climate change.

Greece is handling this difficult situation with professionalism, putting emphasis on safely evacuating thousands of… https://t.co/WhQ3udTlX6

— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 23, 2023

On Rhodes, officials from the Greek Foreign Ministry were working at the international airport with several embassies and diplomats who travelled from the UK to help tourists who had lost their travel documents.

Evacuees sit inside a stadium in Rhodes on Sunday (Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi/AP)

Tourist Kevin Evans was evacuated twice on Saturday with his wife and three young children — first from Kiotari to Gennadi, and then as the fire approached to the island’s capital in the northeast.

“There were lots of people in Gennadi sent from the hotels — many in just swimsuits having been told to leave everything in the hotel,” he said.

A man carries a child as they leave an area where a forest fire burns on Rhodes (Lefteris Diamanidis/InTime News/AP)

“As night fell, we could see the fire on the top of the hills in Kiotari. They said all the hotels were on fire.”

The army was also helping to set up temporary accommodations on Rhodes, where schools and sporting facilities were opened to help with the effort.

Tourists stand on a beach after being evacuated (Argyris Mantikos/Eurokinissi/AP)

A relative respite from the heat on Monday, with highs of 38C, will be followed by yet more high temperatures starting on Tuesday.

But it should get significantly cooler on Thursday, with temperatures in the low to mid-30s, the country’s meteorological service.