Sellia: fire forces evacuation of two settlements

A fire that broke out on the afternoon of Friday 14 August 2026 at Sellia, in the municipality of Agios Vasileios, spread rapidly towards Souda in Rethymno and towards Plakias, leading to the evacuation of two settlements. Through the 112 emergency number an order was issued to leave Fotinari and Souda, heading for the coastal Agios Vasileios road, and both areas were evacuated. In the first phase of the operation 38 firefighters took part with eight vehicles, three ground units of the 3rd and 19th ΕΜΟΔΕ, volunteer teams, water tankers and machinery belonging to the local authorities. It should be noted that one of the sources places the start of the fire on Thursday, while the rest agree on Friday 14 August. The front initially moved to the south-west, in an area of low scrub vegetation and difficult terrain.

The mayor of Agios Vasileios, Giannis Tatarakis, confirmed that three aircraft took part in the operation during the first day. On the morning of Saturday 15 August the fire was subsiding, but 23 vehicles with 50 firefighters and ΕΜΟΔΕ forces remained at the scene, for fear of flare-ups. The helicopters were forced to withdraw because of winds reaching nine on the Beaufort scale, while later an aircraft operated once again. Volunteers from the “Omada ENA” group of Rethymno were also on the front line. None of the sources gave an estimate of the area burnt. The evacuation order was issued while daylight still allowed residents to move, which limited the risk of people being trapped on the narrow coastal road.

The investigation department of the Rethymno Fire Service was at the scene from the outset to look into the causes. According to a report by a local outlet, the leading scenario under examination is the use of a barbecue by visitors, a version that has not been officially confirmed and remains under assessment. The southern side of Rethymno has been badly affected over the past decade: as TodayGrid recorded in the report “Rethymno: more than 95,000 stremmata reduced to ash in a decade”, repeated fires have changed the landscape and the vegetation of the area. Plakias is one of the main tourist destinations of southern Rethymno and in August hosts a large number of visitors, which makes any evacuation operationally demanding.

The fire coincided with the worst possible circumstances: the day of the Dormition of the Virgin, with the island on fire risk category 4 and with gale-force northerly winds that limited the scope for aerial intervention. The mayor of Agios Vasileios has already asked DEDDIE in writing for the gradual undergrounding of the network in parts of the municipality hit by strong winds, among them Sellia and Myrthios. The Region of Crete kept category 4 in force for Sunday 16 August as well, across the whole island. More from the area on the Agios Vasileios page. In the period ahead the critical factor remains the strength of the northerly winds, since the burnt zone includes points that are hard to reach, where the remaining hotspots die down slowly.

Update, 16 August 2026: A man aged 35 was arrested and brought before the prosecutor on Sunday 16 August 2026, accused of causing the fire through negligence by using a barbecue. Fire Service investigators had questioned three people staying in a rented house in the area, while its owner publicly apologised. Full details in the report “Sellia: 35-year-old before the prosecutor over the fire”.