Massive Fire On Rhodes Has Officials On High Alert, Fires On Serifo and Crete Under Control

A massive fire is blazing on the southeastern end of the Aegean island of Rhodes, and testing the strengths of Greek fire fighters. The blaze, which sparked on Saturday is being fanned by very strong winds thus even threatening residential areas at times.

Vassilis Papageorgiou, the deputy chief of Greece's fire service,  made an emergency trip to the island on Saturday night several hours after the blaze broke out, in the framework of coordinate the fire-fighting operation, while officers and equipment were also flown in from Thessaloniki and other parts of Greece to assist.

By Sunday afternoon, the fire had reached the outskirts of villages of Vati, Gennadio and Lachania, with authorities warning residents that they should be prepared to evacuate if the order is given. Meanwhile, dozens of residents in the general vicinity have already opted to leave their homes, after the flames engulfed a residence outside the village of Istrios while its owner was away.

Luckily, no injuries have been reported so far (by Sunday afternoon).

The fires on the islands of Serifos and Crete are now under control.