Hotels and homes evacuated on Greek island of Crete as wildfire burns out of control

ATHENS, Greece — Firefighters were struggling Thursday to bring a major wildfire on Greece's southern island of Crete under control, hampered by gale force winds whipping up the flames.

Thousands of people were evacuated from hotels and homes overnight after the fire started Wednesday afternoon in the Ierapetra area on the island's southern coast, officials said.

The head of the hoteliers' association of Ierapetra and southeastern Crete, Giorgos Tzarakis, told local media about 5,000 tourists had been evacuated from the area, and that several homes and businesses had been damaged.

By Thursday morning, 230 firefighters backed by 10 water-dropping helicopters were battling the flames advancing through forest and farmland.

Gale force winds in the area, with gusts reaching about 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour, ''are constantly creating ... new outbreaks, making firefighting work very difficult,'' said fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis.

Two people were evacuated by boat overnight, while six private boats were on standby in case further evacuations by sea became necessary, the coast guard said.

Nektarios Papadakis, a civil protection official at the regional authority, told The Associated Press overnight that tourists who had been evacuated from the area had been taken to an indoor basketball arena and hotels in other parts of the island.

Several residents were treated for breathing difficulties, officials said, but there were no reports of serious injuries.

The Fire Service and a civil protection agency issued mobile phone alerts for the evacuations and appealed to residents not to return to try to save their property.

As fires crested ridgelines and edged toward residential areas overnight, the blaze sent clouds of ash into the sky, illuminated by the headlights of emergency vehicles and water trucks that lined the coastal road near the resorts of Ferma and Achlia on the southeast of Crete.

Crete is one of Greece's most popular destinations for both foreign and domestic tourists.

The risk of wildfires remained very high across Crete and parts of southern Greece Thursday, according to a daily bulletin issued by the Fire Service.

Wildfires are frequent in the country during its hot, dry summers, and the fire department has already tackled dozens across Greece so far this year.

In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. More than 100 died, including some who drowned while trying to swim away from the flames.