Four major wildfire fronts in Greece on Mon. as 63 new blazes quickly extinguished; evacuation flights continue from Rhodes

A total of 63 wildfires were reported in Greece over the last 24 hours, most of which were quickly extinguished, the fire brigade announced on Monday night evening, during a briefing on the course of at least four major blazes still active in the country, with the most devastating raging for a week in south-central Rhodes island.

A fire brigade spokesman, speaking during a press briefing, said the pressing wildfires on Rhodes, in the north of Corfu island, the southeast corner of large Evia island, and near the village of Dervenaki, in the northwest Peloponnese, were still raging due to continued rekindling in the affected areas.

Three separate fire fronts were still burning on the well-known holiday island of Rhodes by the late afternoon on Monday, as fire-fighters battled the flames and smoke in the face of gusty winds.
In a related development, 17 emergency outbound flights were recorded at the island’s international airport as of Sunday afternoon, carrying a total of 2,115 passengers who cut short their vacation to return home.

The evacuation effort on Rhodes involved roughly 19,000 people, 3,000 of which were taken off beaches by boats, the largest such operation in modern Greek history, according to law enforcement authorities.

Another 21 such flights were scheduled for Monday, and will to continue over the next few days for visitors who choose to leave the Dodecanese Island after being evacuated from their lodgings.

According to Greece’s transport ministry, a total of 160 regularly scheduled flights took place on Sunday, while 154 are expected by the end of the day Monday.

Elsewhere, firefighting efforts continued in the southeast corner of Evia, which straddles the east coast of the Greek mainland, and east of the harbor town of Karystos, authorities announced on Monday afternoon. The biggest challenge was, again, the rekindling of flames due to strong winds. This wildfire, at its peak, extended over five kilometers in rugged and mountainous terrain, mostly burning brush land, lower-level olive groves and isolated thickets of other trees.