Fire brigade chief Nikos Longinos on Thursday offered his condolences to his Greek counterpart Theodoros Vagias after three Greek firefighters died while battling wildfires on the island of Crete.

According to fire brigade spokesman Andreas Kettis, Longinos “expressed, on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, the Cypriot fire brigade, and himself personally, our sincere and deepest condolences to [Vagias] and to the Greek fire brigade family, as well as to the families of our three deceased colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty”.

“Their sacrifice, he said, is a supreme act of bravery, dedication, and selflessness in the protection of human life, property, and the natural environment. Their loss plunges the entire international firefighting family into grief,” he said.

He added that Longinos had informed Vagias that the Cypriot fire brigade “stands with respect and solidarity by the side of the Greek state and the Greek fire brigade in these difficult times”, and “wished strength and courage to the relatives of the deceased and to all members of the fire brigade”.

High temperatures and gale-force winds fanned flames across Crete throughout the early part of this week, with Mairi Lioni, the deputy governor of the Rethymno regional unit, on Thursday describing the previous night as a “nightmare” to Greek public broadcaster ERT.

She said that 8,000 people were evacuated in the unit, which covers western central Crete, while Crete’s civil protection unit’s deputy governor Giorgos Tsapakos said that more than 200 firefighters were working through the night to tackle the blaze.

Matters were made more difficult by the fact that the extreme winds, reaching speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour, prevented firefighting aircraft from taking off.

On this matter, Tsapakos said that “our hope is that the wind will drop, so that at first light, they will be able to operate the aerial means and assist where needed”, while he, too, described the night as “difficult”, and said that “there are many active fronts and the winds remain very strong – they have not let up”.

Additionally, it was reported that some areas in the south of the Rethymno regional unit were left without electricity.

Earlier, Greek Climate Crisis Minister Evangelos Tournas had said that the loss of life “fills us with deep sadness”.

The Greek fire brigade, meanwhile, said of the three firefighters who died that “they fell heroically in the line of duty, safeguarding the lives and property of people as well as the natural environment”.