Crete Locals

Crete rated high wildfire risk for Monday, August 24, civil protection says

· By CreteLocals Editorial Team
Crete rated high wildfire risk for Monday, August 24, civil protection says

Several areas of Crete are rated at high wildfire risk (level 3, marked yellow) for Monday, August 24, according to the daily Fire Risk Prediction Map issued by Greece’s General Secretariat for Civil Protection. The agency has placed authorities across the island on increased readiness to respond to any fire outbreaks.

The General Secretariat, part of the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, has notified relevant state services, regional administrations and municipalities in the affected areas to maintain heightened civil protection readiness. This follows a similarly elevated risk warning issued for Crete a day earlier, when authorities placed the whole island on alert over high wildfire risk.

Fire service response

The Fire Service is maintaining its second stage of operational readiness and will increase air surveillance patrols as well as ground patrols involving fire, police and military personnel, according to the ministry’s announcement. Fire service staff in the affected regional units have been placed on partial alert to handle increased operational demands that may arise from very high fire risk, classified as category 4, in some parts of the country.

A map shared by the Fire Service on social media indicated category 4 (very high) risk for Attica and Kythira on Monday, alongside category 3 (high) risk in several areas of the mainland. The blaze that firefighters recently brought under control near Zoniana, in Rethymno, after it burned through low vegetation underscores the risks authorities are seeking to manage during periods of elevated fire danger.

Guidance for the public

The Fire Service is urging residents and visitors to avoid outdoor activities that could cause fires through negligence, including burning dry grass, branches or cleared vegetation, using spark-producing equipment such as circular saws or welding tools, using outdoor grills, smoking out beehives, and discarding lit cigarettes. Burning agricultural fields remains prohibited throughout the fire season, the ministry reiterated.

Citizens are also advised to follow wildfire prevention updates on the Fire Service’s official website and social media accounts on Facebook and X. Anyone who spots a fire is asked to call the Fire Service immediately at 199 and to follow the instructions of local authorities for their own safety. Further guidance on self-protection from forest fires is available on the Civil Protection website, www.civilprotection.gr. The warning comes amid continued assessments of damage from earlier fires this season, including inspections in Rethymno that found 25 buildings severely damaged.

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