Firefighters late Thursday afternoon were battling to extinguish the last pockets of flames in at least three major wildfires that had erupted in Greece over the past 24-hour period, namely, in south-central Evia Island, near the Cretan port city of Rethymno and in the northern Greece prefecture of Kilkis.

At least two fire-fighters were slightly injured during efforts to contain the blaze in south-central Evia, near the village of Afrati. The first, a seasonal fire truck driver, was injured when his vehicle overturned. The second fire-fighter was hit by water dropped by an aircraft.

According to local media reports, several stockbreeding herds were lost in the wildfire.

The latest wildfire in Evia was the most destructive of the blazes this week, burning much of a rare, for this part of the island, pine forest. Greece’s second largest island, which straddles the mainland’s eastern seaboard, has been ravaged by fires over the years, most notably a massive conflagration that destroyed thousands of acres of pine forests in northern Evia in August 2021.

Meanwhile, nearly 100 fire-fighters operating 27 fire-fighting vehicles were battling a blaze on Crete.

According to information provided on Thursday by the fire brigade, 31 rural wildfires were recorded on the day, of which 23 were immediately extinguished and eight required a further mobilization.

Another wildfire near the town of Koropi, due east of Athens proper, was under control by dusk, authorities said.

Below is a post on X by the relevant civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias: