Thousands of people have been evacuated from hotels and homes on the island of Rhodes, the fire department of Greece, reveals.
Along with the Greek coast guard, private vessels are now assisting in the island’s east coast beach pickups.
There are rumours that Greek navy ships are also making their way to the touristy region.
The fires in Rhodes, according to the deputy fire chief of Greece, are the most challenging ones right now for his department.
According to Greece’s Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, no casualties have been reported.
Less than 10% of Rhodes’ “total tourist capacity” is reportedly being safely evacuated from the threatened regions, according to the ministry, and is being routed to other hotels on the island.
Five helicopters and 173 firefighters are operating in the area, with three hotels in the Kiotari area reported to have been damaged by fire.
One British woman said she was evacuated from the hotel she was staying at with her sister and daughter, but was now stuck on a beach with hundreds of others in the severe heat.
“There’s just a small shack here and there’s so many of us,” Becky Mulligan told the BBC. “There’s children, it’s the middle of the day, we are just stuck here with no help, it’s disgusting.”
Simon Wheatley said ash had begun falling onto his pizza when he was eating.
“The hotel said this was normal and there was no need to worry as they were in contact with the authorities about the situation,” he told the BBC.
His hotel was later evacuated.
“We saw that a beach bar that we were at just the day before had burnt down. The smoke was so bad. We had to leave two bags of luggage.”
Travel company TUI said a small number of its hotels had been affected and it was relocating customers to alternative accommodation as a precaution.
Jet2 also said it was aware of the situation in Rhodes and was asking customers to follow local guidance.
Firefighters from Slovakia arrived on Rhodes on Saturday to help local teams battling the fires.
“The situation in Rhodes is serious and extremely difficult. Due to the strong wind and quickly changing direction of the fire, firefighters had to withdraw and move,” Slovak Fire and Rescue Services posted on Facebook.
They said that a portion of the Slovak rescue crew had relocated to the seaside resorts to assist with evacuation efforts there.
This weekend, Greece will see even more extreme heat, with forecasters predicting that temperatures could reach 45C (113F).
One of the leading meteorologists in Greece has predicted that this July weekend could end up being the hottest in the country in 50 years.
Numerous wildfires are still being fought by firefighters all around the nation. One of the worst-affected places is west of Athens, along with Laconia in the southern Peloponnese and Rhodes.
The chance of fresh fires is extremely high, according to authorities, as the temperature rises.
The following two days will be extremely hot, thus it is urged that people stay inside. Additionally, several tourist attractions, including the Acropolis of Athens, will be closed.
Greece experienced a protracted period of high heat earlier this month, along with a number of other European nations.
The country’s tourism industry is at its busiest during the most recent heatwave.
