Rhodes Wildfire: Largest-Ever Evacuation in Greece

• Locals and tourists flee hotspots as firefighters battle the flames.
• Wind gusts complicate firefighting efforts.
• German travel company Tui suspends inbound flights to Rhodes to help evacuate tourists.

A massive wildfire on the Greek island of Rhodes led to the largest-ever fire evacuation in the country, with both locals and tourists fleeing the hotspots on Sunday. Firefighters, aided by water jets and helicopters, worked to battle the flames, but wind gusts of up to 49 kilometers per hour made their efforts challenging. The island, a popular tourist destination, especially for British, German, and French visitors, saw many tourists quickly moved out of harm’s way.

The wildfire had been burning for nearly a week amid an extended period of extreme heat in Greece. On Sunday, temperatures reached a scorching 45 degrees Celsius in central Greece. The authorities managed to evacuate an area of 30,000 people, making it the largest fire evacuation in the country’s history. Approximately 16,000 people were transported by land, 3,000 by sea, and others fled on their own using various means of transportation.

As a result of the evacuation and the ongoing fire situation, German travel company Tui suspended all inbound passenger flights to Rhodes until Tuesday but planned to send empty planes to help evacuate stranded tourists. Tui had around 40,000 tourists on the island, and nearly 8,000 were directly affected by the wildfires. British carrier Jet2 also canceled all flights and holidays to Rhodes.

One German tourist recounted the harrowing experience of narrowly escaping the fire. They had returned from the beach to find their hotel deserted, with embers flying around and no immediate help available. Buses eventually arrived to evacuate the tourists, but some were so panicked that they sought boats to escape from the beach.

The firefighting efforts were expected to take several days, with more than 260 firefighters and 18 aircraft battling the flames on Sunday. Countries such as Croatia, France, Slovakia, and Turkey contributed equipment and personnel to assist in the firefighting operations. The fires had reached the village of Laerma, damaging houses, a church, and hotels along the coast. Authorities took precautions and evacuated 11 villages overnight to ensure safety.

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