30,000 fleeing forest fires in Rhodes, including Dutch | Abroad

Around 2,000 people have already been evacuated by sea from two beaches, firefighter spokesman Yannis Artopios said on Saturday evening. The evacuation was uneventful, he said. Three Coast Guard vessels, an army lifeboat, marine inflatables and 30 private boats took part in the operation. The Blue Star ferry company offered one of its ferries to receive the evacuees. Artopios added that “less than 10% of tourist accommodation on the island” was affected by the government’s evacuation order.

There are also about two hundred Dutch among the evacuees. Tourists and escaped islanders are cared for in schools, gyms and other accommodations elsewhere on the island. This also includes rooms in hotels, Marvin Haesebrouck (37) from Spijkenisse has seen with his own eyes. “Beds and mattresses have been placed in our hotel meeting room for a few families and tonight the first ones arrived with shocked faces, babies in rompers and luggage,” he said from his wife and daughter’s home about 7 kilometers from Rhodes town.

So far, only eight people with respiratory ailments have been hospitalized. Greek media reported that three hotels were on fire. This would mainly concern the properties of the Mitsis Village and Lindian Village holiday centers and one of the hotel companies of the Hatzilazarou group north of the town of Kiotari on the south-eastern coast of the island.

Some of the tourists were evacuated by bus earlier in the day. Residents of four villages were also ordered to leave their homes. The nuns of a convent in danger refuse to leave for the moment.

The Rhodes fires have been raging for five days and are not yet under control, in part due to strong wind and heat. Today it was around 40 degrees on the island, slightly higher temperatures are expected for tomorrow. 173 firefighters are trying to put out the fires from the ground and from the air. They receive help from 31 Slovak colleagues.

The approximately two hundred Dutch evacuees are Corendon guests who had to leave their hotels on government orders. “They have been transferred to reception facilities including sports halls,” spokeswoman Audrey Denkelaar told this news site. “We are offering guests who cannot return to their hotel alternative accommodation and the option of returning to the Netherlands today or tomorrow.”

According to her, the travel organization also has a solution for guests who still have to leave for Rhodes. They too can choose. “We offer them alternative accommodation elsewhere on the island, but people can also rebook their trip,” said the spokesperson.

Dutchwoman Kaylie Mennens stayed in the village of Mitsis in Kiotari and said she narrowly escaped the fire. ‘Madness!!! They were far too late to evacuate!! Scandalous. We followed our own instincts, hopped on a local bus that had just arrived. We literally had to go through the fire on the bus. But luckily safe now,” she replied on Facebook, reporting on the evacuations.

Rolf Oligschläger from Eijsden in Limburg says he is also lucky. “If you are caught in a forest fire and look the fire in the eye… we have narrowly escaped a terrible tragedy in Rhodes. Our hotel is now on fire and hopefully we made it out safe and sound 🙏🏻 Strength to all those thousands of people who are stranded,” he wrote on Facebook.

Monique Altena from Kerkrade saw the fire helicopters fly over the studio on days when she and her family are on vacation. The fire raged about ten minutes from the accommodation. “Two days ago, we didn’t dare go to the beach because there was a strong smell of smoke. Now we see the smoke hanging in the distance, the smell is gone. We mostly hear a lot of sirens,” she says. The wind has been blowing hard since today, explains the holidaymaker, which probably means that the fire is spreading faster. “But we are not in the danger zone. I’m really sorry for the people this happens to. You don’t wish that on anyone.”

Residents and tourists are invited to use energy sparingly, for example by only using electrical appliances if they are really necessary and by not setting the air conditioning below 26 degrees. The grid operator has announced rolling one-hour power cuts for the whole of Rhodes to prevent the power grid from failing.

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Wildfires elsewhere in Greece, including around Athens, now appear to be under control. It helps that the wind has died down there.

Greece, like other countries in southern Europe, has been suffering from a strong heat wave for more than a week. Temperatures are expected to exceed 45 degrees in parts of the country tomorrow. Most of the islands, where it’s normally a bit cooler thanks to a northerly wind, can’t escape the heat this time around either. The wind shifted to the south and almost calmed down. After a short break on Monday and Tuesday, when the mercury drops below 40 degrees, it should be very hot again on Wednesday with temperatures above 45 degrees. Also, the wind is picking up. From tomorrow, much of Greece will be on the highest level of alert for the risk of forest fires.

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