A large fire that has been burning on Rhodes since last Tuesday spread yesterday, prompting authorities to evacuate at least four hotels in the area of Kiotari in the island’s southeast.

Hundreds of tourists were evacuated to nearby villages as firefighters battled flames fueled by high winds.

Cyprus, Italy and France sent water-dropping aircraft to aid Greek planes trying to douse the Rhodes blaze from the air.

Meanwhile, the village of Laerma, which had been threatened by fire on Wednesday, was again in danger yesterday, local authorities said. Fanned by strong winds, flames had reached the outskirts of the village by late yesterday afternoon and had damaged two homes and a church, they said.

There were no reports of any injuries but thousands of hectares of land were believed to have been razed.

Another large blaze that broke out early yesterday afternoon in the region of Achaia, near Patras, led to the closure of the national highway at Rio, causing long traffic tailbacks. The local railway service was disrupted too. Local campsites and hostels, accommodating hundreds of Greek and foreign holidaymakers, were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Dozens of swimmers, trapped on nearby beaches after flames descended toward the pine trees lining the coastline, managed to get to their cars or scooters and leave the area without any reported problems. By late yesterday, firefighters had partially controlled the blaze whose impact on the area was unclear. The highway was gradually being reopened to motorists last night.