A separate wildfire was burning on the Peloponnese near the port city of Patras, where four water-bombing aircraft and three helicopters were deployed near the village of Floka.
Smaller fires were also burning on the Aegean islands of Paros, Kalymnos and Andros, although authorities said conditions there had improved.
Firefighters and civil protection services remain on nationwide alert, with many parts of Greece — including Athens, Crete, several Aegean islands and parts of the Peloponnese — facing a “very high” wildfire risk, the second-highest level on the country’s five-point scale.
Forecast winds of up to 88 kilometres per hour disrupted ferry services to several tourist islands and continued to complicate firefighting operations.
“The gusts are literally carrying the fire and spreading it in all directions,” Theodore Giannaros, a senior researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, told public broadcaster ERT.
“The strong winds are lifting embers that can spark new outbreaks, sometimes far from the main fire front,” he added.
Fire brigade spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis said additional firefighting resources had been deployed to Crete, but strong winds, dense smoke and poor visibility were making aerial water drops extremely difficult.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned on Thursday that Greece was entering a traditionally difficult period for wildfires.
“August is traditionally a difficult month,” he said.
Greek authorities said three firefighters have died this week while battling wildfires in Crete and the Peloponnese.
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