Greek fishermen joined a dramatic mission to rescue dozens of tourists trapped on Crete’s coastline as wildfires continue to rage across multiple holiday islands.
Footage captured the moment rescue boats battled huge waves from winds of up to 100mph and thick smoke to reach 29 people stranded on a beach in the Agios Pavlos area and haul them to safety.
The group, including children and elderly people, had fled to the shoreline after their hotel caught fire.
According to the Greek Coast Guard, 17 people were rescued in an initial operation before a further 12 were brought to safety in a second mission, taking the total to 29.
The rescue came as firefighters battled major blazes across Greece, with thousands forced to flee homes and hotels on Crete, while wildfires also continued to burn across parts of Spain, Portugal and France after weeks of extreme heat.
Fishing boats also joined the complex rescue effort in Agios Pavlos, with terrifying footage showing the vessels crashing through huge waves to save those stranded.
Captain Nikos Matthaiakis, one of the fishermen involved, described the chaotic rescue to MEGA.
He said fire had surrounded the area, engulfing a tavern and tourist accommodation, while reed beds burned and sparks reached the rescue boats.
Exploding gas cylinders added to the chaos as stormy seas battered the vessels and around 30 people were stranded on the beach with no escape route.
‘It was stifling in terms of fire and smoke, but the winds were hurricane-force. Imagine that they recorded wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres per hour,’ he said.
- A wildfire broke out on Thursday morning in Germany’s Chiemgau Alps mountain range. 200 firefighters and emergency personnel are on the scene.
- In Spain, 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) of land have burned nationwide as firefighters are tackling a huge wildfire in Avila outside Madrid. A construction worker has been accused of starting the blaze by using an illegal excavator.
- In France, some 92,000 hectares have burned after a devastating fire swept through Bordeaux. New fires have now erupted between the cities of Marseille and Nice and in the Burgundy region.
- Turkish firefighters on Wednesday battled wildfires near the country’s southern tourist beaches that have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people.
- Firefighters in France have warned embers could fuel ‘zombie fires’ for several months, mobilizing rescue efforts until winter.
Greek fishermen joined a dramatic mission to rescue dozens of tourists trapped on Crete’s coastline as wildfires continued to rage across multiple holiday islands
Fishing boats also joined the complex rescue effort in Agios Pavlos, with terrifying footage showing the vessels crashing through huge waves to reach those stranded on the beach
Smoke filled the sky as rescue boats battled stormy seas to rescue the people trapped
According to the Greek Coast Guard, 17 people were rescued in an initial operation before a further 12 were brought to safety in a second mission, taking the total to 29
Flames and embers rise as a wildfire burns next to the village of Krya Vrysi, Crete
Matthaiakis said the overnight operation was carried out in treacherous conditions, with strong winds and heavy smoke making it almost impossible to reach the beach.
‘The conditions were very difficult. The Port Authority called me at 4am and told me to be on standby. We headed towards Agios Pavlos with the Coast Guard boats and rescued 25 people trapped by the fire,’ he said.
‘We couldn’t even get close to Agios Pavlos because the winds were over Force 10 and the coastline is rocky. The situation was shocking. I picked up the last of them while the hotel was burning and gas bottles were exploding.’
Those rescued were transferred to Coast Guard vessels before being taken safely to the port of Kokkinos Pyrgos after the nearby Agia Galini area was also evacuated.
Gale-force winds are fueling deadly wildfires across the Greek islands of Crete and Lesbos, forcing the urgent evacuation of thousands of residents and tourists.
‘We evacuated (some) 8,000 people’ from the resort village of Agia Galini, Maria Lioni, deputy governor of the Rethymno area, told state TV ERT.
The evacuations were decided as the fire, which broke out Wednesday and had earlier killed two firefighters, got to within a kilometre of the village before changing direction in the evening.
The fire is believed to have burned down homes, agricultural facilities and farm animals, but the toll is unclear as the fire is ongoing, Lioni said, calling it a ‘dark day.’
Two firefighters were trapped on a mountain road near the village of Krya Vrysi and died as the winds kept changing direction.
A third firefighter collapsed and died during efforts to put out a separate fire near Gytheio in the Peloponnese peninsula.
It comes as Europe is battling some of the worst wildfires in living memory across multiple popular holiday destinations including France, Spain and Turkey.
The Crete fire department had dedicated a force of over 200 firefighters and 53 fire engines in the Rethymno area in southwestern Crete, but winds of up to 102 kilometres (63 miles) an hour was preventing most aircraft from taking on seawater.
The fire front in Rethymno is over 15 kilometres long according to local civil protection official Giorgos Tsapakos.
But inhabited areas are ‘not under immediate threat’ as the fire is mainly burning forest and agricultural land, Tsapakos told Skai TV.
The rescue came as firefighters battled major blazes across Greece, with thousands forced to flee homes and hotels on Crete, while wildfires also continued to burn across parts of Spain, Portugal and France after weeks of extreme heat
Pictured: Smoke restricted visibility and made the rescue mission more difficult
Moment dozens are rescued by boat after fleeing to beaches on wildfire-hit Crete
Pictured: People sit in a boat after being rescued from the wildfires in Crete
Smoke rises during a wildfire, south of Rethymno in the Greek island of Crete on July 30, 2026
A firefighter operates on a wildfire burning near the beach of Triopetra on the island of Crete, Greece, July 30, 2026
People walk on a beach as smoke rises from a wildfire burning next to the village of Plomari, Lesvos
Firefighters work to contain a major wildfire near Saumos, Gironde department, France, 29 July 2026
A volunteer works to extinguish a fire in low-lying vegetation in Krya Vrysi, Rethymno, Crete
A volunteer uses a shovel as they battle a wildfire at Seydikemer district in Mugla, Turkey
A firefighter creates a controlled burn area to contain a fire near Lege-Cap-Ferret, during wildfires in southwestern France, Thursday, July 30
Firefighters and volunteers work to extinguish the flames engulfing bee hives during a wildfire at Seydikemer district in Mugla, Turkey on July 29, 2026
A coastguard spokesman said there were four patrol boats at Agia Galini ready to help with additional evacuations, including one from EU border agency Frontex.
‘But conditions are extremely difficult, there are (violent) wind shears,’ he said.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid tribute to the fallen firefighters on Wednesday.
‘Our thoughts are with them, as well as with all the firefighters, volunteers and members of the security forces who are battling the fire fronts, in the midst of a new harsh reality that they are called upon to face every year,’ the prime minister said.
Nearly 100 firefighters were separately tackling a fire near the village of Plomari on the island of Lesbos.
The civil protection ministry placed several areas on near-maximum fire alert for Thursday, including Crete, the greater Athens area, the eastern Peloponnese and most of the Aegean islands.
The National Observatory’s weather website meteo.gr said wind shears in the Rethymno area had been recorded at up to 125 kilometres per hour, and wind intensity was expected to remain high on Thursday.
Greece faces destructive wildfires almost every summer as prolonged drought, high temperatures and strong winds create ideal conditions for blazes to spread rapidly.
A wildfire broke out on Thursday morning in Germany’s Chiemgau Alps mountain range, near the village of Unterwossen.
200 members of the fire departments, mountain rescue, emergency medical services, and the police are on the scene tackling the blaze.
‘People are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed, turn off their ventilation and air conditioning systems, and avoid the area around the incident site,’ said a spokesperson for the district fire department association.
This aerial picture taken with a drone shows a herd of goats on the scorched ground of a farm damaged by a wildfire near Pelayos de la Presa, 65 kilometres west of Madrid, on July 30
This picture shows burnt-out cars and properties ravaged by a wildfire in the Encinar del Alberche residential area in Villa del Prado, south-west of Madrid
A firefighter works to contain a major wildfire near Saumos, Gironde
An aerial view shows firefighting teams continue aerial and ground operations to contain a forest fire that spread due to strong winds in the Alanya district of Antalya
Tourists prepare to be transferred on a bus from the town of Moires as a wildfire burns on the island of Crete
Meanwhile in Spain, 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) of land have burned nationwide, among the largest areas in any January to July period on record according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Emergency services have been working since last Thursday to put out a blaze in the Madrid region, and another in the nearby province of Avila, which officials said is the worst in Spain’s recent history.
The blazes forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, many of whom have now been allowed to return home.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday that efforts to extinguish a major wildfire near Madrid were progressing ‘favourably’ and the coming hours would be ‘decisive’.
‘Today I believe we are closer to that final objective’ of ‘defeating the fire’, Sanchez told reporters in televised comments at a command centre in the town of Navalcarnero near the fire zone.
‘Things are progressing favourably, with the greatest of caution,’ he added.
‘I believe the next 12 hours will be very important – they will be decisive for consolidating the work that has been done’ by firefighters.
A new wildfire broke out on Wednesday near Spain’s border with Portugal, forcing the evacuation of more than 600 people, emergency services said.
A total of 11 areas were evacuated, and residents of two others were ordered to shelter in place, the services said.
Authorities did not say the area burned in the fire in Fermosselle region, but several roads have been closed.
Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME) was deployed to the Level 2 fire – a classification that triggers extra support from the central government.
Two other Level 2 fires – at Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado – are active in the same Zamora province, in the Castile and Leon region which has already been hit by the largest fire in Spanish history since record-keeping began.
In France, some 92,000 hectares have burned between January and July – the largest area ever documented in records that date back two decades.
A helicopter drops water to extinguish a fire in the mountain forest in the Chiemgau Alps, near the village of Unterwossen, Germany
A house and belongings destroyed by a wildfire are photographed as the fire continues to spread in Pelayos de la Presa, Madrid province
Firefighters battle the flames of a wildfire near Pinzio, Portugal, 28 July 2026
Firefighters kneel on the ground as they discuss how to tackle a wildfire near Saumos, Gironde department, France
The Gironde region reported a second calm night and said the massive fire west of France’s wine-making capital of Bordeaux remained stable despite a spike in temperatures on Wednesday as the fourth heatwave of the summer roasted the area.
‘If the night goes well, we can reasonably be more optimistic for tomorrow and the days to come,’ Sophie Brocas, a senior regional official, said.
In the southeastern region of Var, however, more than 600 people were forced to flee after a fresh fire erupted in the region nestled along France’s Mediterranean coast between the cities of Marseille and Nice.
The new fire erupted less than a day after another blaze in the Var was brought under control.
Another forest fire erupted in the eastern region of Burgundy near the city of Dijon, sweeping across 125 hectares but without causing any casualties or damage to homes, local officials said.
And Turkish firefighters on Wednesday battled wildfires near the country’s southern tourist beaches that have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, authorities said.
Hundreds of firefighters went up against the biggest fire in Mugla province, with more than 20 planes and helicopters bombing water on the flames, the agriculture ministry said.
Media reports said the main highway from the tourist city of Antalya to the beach resort of Fethiye had been closed because of the smoke.
NTV television said that access to the ancient ruins at Olympos in Antalya province had been closed.
In Mugla province, the wildfire started on agricultural land and spread to a forest, the provincial governor’s office said. It added that 202 residents and some patients from a hospital had been evacuated.
Another major fire burned in the Balikesir region on the Aegean coast along the road connecting Izmir, the country’s third-largest city, to the Dardanelles region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Wednesday that some 90 fires had broken out on Wednesday in the country, with 81 brought under control.
More than 3,000 firefighters are working to contain the remaining fires, he said.
Turkey has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help with its wildfires and two others to France, which has also been battling forest fires.
A firefighter walks next to flames during controlled burning operations in Le Porge, Gironde department, amid drought conditions following a heatwave and water shortages across much of France, July 30
Damage at a burnt house at Pelayos de la Presa in Madrid, Spain, 30 July 2026
Firefighters attempt to extinguish flames in Saumos, Gironde department, France
A firefighter uses a metal drip torch to ignite controlled fires in a forest in Le Porge, north of the Arcachon Basin, on July 30
On Wednesday, nine villages were evacuated on the Greek holiday island of Paros.
Footage shared on social media shows bright orange flames rising above the mountains as dark clouds of smoke engulf the island.
Local media has reported that residents are fleeing to the beaches on the instructions of emergency services.
According to Greek news outlet ProtoThema, emergency crews have been battling the blaze non-stop since Tuesday afternoon.
The response team in Paros includes 66 firefighters, specialised forest firefighting units from Athens, five helicopters, and two water-bombing planes.
One resident who fled to the neighbouring island of Antiparos told Swiss outlet Blick: ‘This is turning into a real catastrophe! The fire spread further south with the wind in just three hours.’
Early on Wednesday, residents in Trypiti, Glyfa, Pyrgaki and Aspro Chorio were ordered to evacuate towards Dryos, after an earlier alert told people in Agkairia to flee to Aliki beach.
The orders followed Tuesday’s evacuations from Agios Charalambos, Kambi, Bougados, Aneratza and Kamari as the blaze continued to spread.
Deputy Mayor Haris Giourtzidis said authorities did not yet have ‘a clear picture of the extent of the damage’, adding: ‘So far, we know that two barns have burned down.’
He said strong, persistent winds were hampering firefighting efforts and revealed emergency crews had been forced to remove some residents from their homes after they refused to leave their animals behind.
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