The battle of the fire brigade is in progress, in order to control the scattered outbreaks that exist in fire which took place at noon on Wednesday at South Rethymnon in Crete.

The fire started in a grassy area, in the settlement of Chordaki Amariou and – due to the strong winds that were blowing in the area – quickly spread to the Municipality of Agios Vassiliou.

According to the latest update from the Fire Department, at this time the winds have died down, while the forces working to extinguish the fire have been reinforced with aerial means, namely 2 aircraft and 3 helicopters. It is recalled that 32 forest commanders arrived on the island by air, shortly before midnight.

Shortly before 6 pm on Wednesday, 112 ordered the evacuation of the village of Agia Paraskevi, while at approximately 7:30 the residents of the village of Apodoulos were called to remain on standby.

According to the head of Civil Protection of the regional unit of Rethymno, Michalis Sarri, the flames reached the yards of the first houses of the settlement of Agia Paraskevi, which is no longer threatened.

However, he said that hundreds of olive trees and a large agricultural and grassland area have been given over to the flames.