We went on hellish 21-hour escape in bikinis as Rhodes wildfires chased us into the sea – we feared our kids would die
A BRITISH mum-of-two has told of her family's traumatising 21-hour escape from the wildfires raging across the Greek island of Rhodes.
Tara Rattley, 38, and her family ran for their lives when flames threatened to engulf their hotel - now they are shivering on a hotel floor still in their swim gear.
Nurse Tara, her husband and two children, 12 and 13, were lying by the pool on Saturday as they suddenly felt ash falling on them and then the scorching heat of the fast-approaching blaze.
The Rattleys had been soaking up the sun at a hotel in Kiotara, one of the first villages to be evacuated after the wildfire swept down from the mountains.
"The sirens went off and we were shouted at to leave now," Tara, a nurse from Portsmouth, told The Sun.
The family only had time to grab their passports before following orders to head for a faraway beach - a two and half hour hike in 38C.
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Tara said: "We had no clue where we were heading, no one was there to direct us, we just knew we had to head in the direction the fire wasn’t.
"At one point the smoke looked like it was surrounding us and although we tried to keep as calm as we could for the children inside we did not know what was going to happen.
"I can honestly say it is the most terrifying thing we have ever experienced and would never want to experience again!
"My friends, my husband and I decided to keep the sea to the left of us so if the fire did come upon us we would get the children and us into the sea."
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They joined thousands of other tourists and locals with terror on their faces on a long march to safety, loaded up with children and belongings.
Would we go the wrong way and get trapped? Also even if the flames didn’t reach us would the smoke overcome us?
Tara Rattley
As they passed a hotel, they managed to get water and food but safety still eluded them.
The wildfire was moving uncontrollably at this point. Fanned by strong winds, it was engulfing large parts of the island's south-eastern parts.
"The fire looked like it was heading in our direction. We went outside and the sky in the distance was orange," Tara recalled.
Still in swim gear, they were loaded into army trucks at night and headed out in an ill-fated convoy that soon broke down.
It was "pitch black" when they were stranded and told to go in search of a beach to be evacuated from alone. Holding hands, they used phone torches to guide them.
"We had to keep saying names to make sure we were still all together as it was so hard to see.
"It didn’t take us long thankfully to reach the beach where thousands of people there waiting to get on boats.
"People had passed out, babies crying because they were hungry, adults crying because they were scared.
"It took us about two hours to try and get on a boat, the flames could be seen in the distance along the coast."
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Once onboard a boat to safety, the Rattleys felt immense relief after their 21-hour ordeal. At Rhodes' port, locals kindly drove the exhausted group to a hotel lobby where they could sleep on the floor.
Looking back, Tara said: "There were definitely moments when we did think 'are we going to make it?' We literally had ash falling on us so knew it was very close."
"Would we go the wrong way and get trapped? Also even if the flames didn’t reach us would the smoke overcome us?"
They are still on the floor of a hotel lobby in their bikinis recovering from their trauma and waiting for a flight out.
"Even if we hear a plane fly over we think that it is the [fire] helicopters or we smell smoke and our hearts go a little and all it is is someone having a cigarette."
Up to 19,000 locals and tourists, including many Brits, have been forced to flee in the biggest evacuation effort Greece has ever seen as the fires in Rhodes rage on.
Up to 16,000 people were evacuated by land and 3,000 by sea from 12 villages and several hotels, while 250 firefighters, helicopters and aircraft water-bombers continue to battle the blaze.
Foreign Office Minister, Andrew Mitchell estimates there are up to 10,000 Britons stranded on the popular island and as of yesterday only 10 free beds.
A Rapid Deployment Team sent by the Foreign Office has arrived on Rhodes to support travel operators in bringing Brits home.
Now, locals and tourists are also being evacuated from large swaths of Corfu as more wildfires rip through the country causing havoc.
People in the areas of Santa, Megoula, Porta, Palia, Perithia and Sinies on the island have been told to leave immediately.
Evacuation has also began on the island of Evia (Euboea) as firefighters struggle to contain 82 wildfires across Greece, 64 of which started yesterday.
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced today that the country was "at war".
“We are at war – completely focused on the fires. Over the coming days and weeks, we must remain on constant alert," he told parliament.
It comes as Greece continues to face high temperatures - with forecasts of up to 45C going into this week after an "" heat blast earlier this month.
Weather experts have declared 2023 an El Niño year - a natural phenomenon that occurs cyclically and causes fluctuations in the global climate.
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The UN’s World Meteorological Organization said it will raise temperatures around the world, and the effect is likely to continue for the rest of the year.
And despite the heat this summer, Europe's record temperature of 48.8C - recorded in 2021 in Sicily - has not been reached and is not currently forecast to be broken.
