At least 155 firefighters have been deployed, and more are on their way to put out the fire on Greece’s largest island.
Greek firefighters have been battling a fire on the popular holiday island of Crete since Wednesday afternoon.
At least 155 firefighters are participating in the extinguishing work, and more are on the way, according to the Greek fire service.
The flames have taken hold of a forest area around the town of Ierapetra on the south coast of Crete.
Authorities have evacuated around 3,000 residents and tourists from the town of Achlia, west of Ierapetra, and three other residential areas on Greece’s largest island.
The evacuees have been taken to temporary accommodation, the authorities say.
No injuries have been reported so far.
More firefighters on the way
Strong winds have made firefighting efforts difficult, and Greek television reports that several houses have been damaged.
Several firefighters are on their way from the capital Athens to participate in the difficult extinguishing work.
– It is a difficult fire that is still ongoing, an unnamed firefighter told Reuters.
It is unclear what has caused the ongoing fire in Crete.
The hot and dry summer months mean that wildfires often occur in Greece.
In addition to the fire on Crete, Greek firefighters were also deployed on Wednesday evening to extinguish a fire that had broken out on the small island of Kythira, as well as a fire in Halkidiki on the mainland.
Greek authorities have blamed climate change for the occurrence of several devastating wildfires in recent years.
/ritzau/Reuters