Heraklion: two fires in Archanes and Agioi Deka

Two fires broke out in the Regional Unit of Heraklion on Tuesday 25 August 2026, putting the Fire Service on alert at two different points in the Cretan interior. The first fire broke out in low vegetation in the Paranymfoi area, within the boundaries of the Municipality of Archanes-Asterousia. The same day, a second fire broke out in a rural and forest area in the Agioi Deka area, in the Municipality of Gortyna, according to the Fire Service. The two areas are several kilometres apart, but both lie in the interior of the prefecture, with intense agricultural activity around olive groves and vineyards. The almost simultaneous appearance of two separate incidents forced the Fire Service to allocate forces and aerial resources to both fronts within the same day.

For the firefighting effort in Paranymfoi, according to the Fire Service, 32 firefighters were mobilised with one ground crew team from the 3rd Special Forest Fire Fighting Unit (EMODE), ten vehicles and two helicopters that carried out water drops from the air. In Agioi Deka, where the fire was burning on more difficult rural and forest terrain, 25 firefighters operated, also with a ground crew team from the 3rd EMODE, eight vehicles and four helicopters. At 17:38 the 112 system sent a message to residents of the Agioi Deka area, recommending they remain on standby for a possible development of the incident. The activation of ground crew teams on both fronts suggests that part of the fire was developing in spots where vehicles had no direct access.

The two fires come amid a wider context of heightened risk, as Tuesday 25 August 2026 was a day of very high temperatures in Crete, which locally in the south and on the island’s plains reached as much as 40 degrees Celsius. Both Paranymfoi and Agioi Deka lie in the interior of Heraklion, in areas where olive groves, vineyards and low shrub vegetation make the ground extremely flammable in August. The forecast of high fire risk in several regions of the country on the same day had already placed Crete on heightened alert, while the nationwide total of 49 rural and forest fires in a 24-hour period recorded by the Fire Service shows the intensity of the phenomenon across the country these days. For residents of Heraklion’s interior, the almost simultaneous occurrence of two incidents in neighbouring municipalities served as a reminder of how vulnerable rural land is at the end of summer.

By Tuesday evening, neither the Fire Service nor the 112 system had announced any injury in either area. The total burned area in Paranymfoi and Agioi Deka has not been made known, nor has the cause of the fires been clarified. No evacuation order has been issued for a residential area in either fire, while the 112 message to residents of Agioi Deka was limited to a recommendation to remain on standby. The Fire Service continues to monitor both fronts with ground and aerial resources, as the high-temperature conditions prevailing on the island keep the risk of flare-ups elevated.