The Rhodes wildfires have sparked the biggest Greek evacuation operation ever in response to a fire, Greek police told AFP.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Civil Protection also said on Sunday it was "the largest evacuation from a wildfire in the country.”
"We had to evacuate an area of 30,000 people. Everything thank God went smoothly. Everybody, especially tourists, followed what we ordered," Konstantia Dimoglidou, Greek police spokesperson said.
The island of Rhodes is one of Greece's most popular tourist destinations, many of whom are now being rapidly moved out of the path of the flames.
Fire raging on three fronts
On Sunday, the blaze was burning in three active fronts — including the mountainous part of Rhodes, firefighters have been trying to stop the blaze from spreading to nearby dense forests.
Southwest of the resort of Kiotari, the main focus of Saturday’s evacuations, a trench was being dug to keep the fire from crossing a creek and threatening another seaside village, Gennadi.
Some 266 firefighters and 49 engines on the ground were joined by five helicopters and 10 planes – seven Greek, two Turkish and one Croatian to help put out the wildfire, authorities said. A further 15 engines are expected later in the day.
Temperatures will climb higher
The weather remains hot in the Mediterranean country on Sunday.
Before midday, temperatures had already reached 38°C. Winds were low but are notoriously variable in Rhodes, as in other Greek islands.
Some of the evacuated, including tourists, are being accommodated in other hotels, gyms and a conference centre.
Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it is coordinating with embassies to assist those who might have left their travel documents behind during the evacuation.
Authorities have designated an unprecedentedly large part of the mainland, the whole eastern part of central and southern Greece, plus the islands of Evia and Rhodes as well as large swaths of the southwest, as Category 5, the highest for risk of fire outbreaks on Sunday.
A further chunk of Greece has been designated Category 4, very high risk.
Temperatures are expected to reach 43°C in the capital, Athens, Sunday and 45°C in the interior plains of central Greece.
