British dad flies to Rhodes to fight wildfires in middle of the night

A Briton flew to Rhodes this week to help locals as wildfires raged - even after the pilot told him to get off the plane.

Barry May, 47, has holidayed on the Greek island for nearly three decades and told Yahoo News UK he "felt compelled” to help friends afflicted by the disaster.

Along with other locals, he has spent the week assisting fire crews through the evenings as they put out blazes to contain the spread. On Tuesday, May said he was out from 7pm to 7.25am the next morning.

He had travelled on Monday - after more than 20,000 people had fled the island over the weekend - and was on the EasyJet plane in which the pilot urged passengers to get off.

“There were about 50 people on the plane,” he said, “and he actually stood at the front to warn people. With that, about 12 people got off.”

Explaining why he decided to go to Rhodes, May, a financial advisor from Wallington, south London, told this website from the island on Friday: “I have been coming here for 27 years. I have friends here, including a godparent to my daughter, who I consider as family. I got married here nine years ago so there are big connections for me out here.

“My wife and I were really upset about the situation and she asked me: ‘Do you want to go?’ I felt compelled.

“I knew there would be people tied to their businesses, like hotel staff who needed to look after tourists, and therefore would be unable to get out and help.”

He has been helping crews - which due to a water shortage have been forced to collect water from fountains and hotel swimming pools - around the island in the middle of the night.

The wildfires have now died down after scorching about 10% of the Rhodes' land, though fire teams continued to operate at several locations on Friday.

In spite of the disaster, May said the camaraderie among locals has been “incredible”.

“To be part of this has been one of the most amazing experiences I’ve ever had. All of these people have been working together out of desperation.

“We weren’t going to win a battle against the fire overnight but the whole idea was to contain it. The aeroplanes and helicopters, during the day, have been bombing the areas and hillsides with water to try and extinguish the fire, but clearly they can’t do it at night.

“The locals, with the fire brigade, have been trying to stop fires until the planes come in the morning.

“In the villages we have seen locals handing out water, making sandwiches, so people can continue.

“I have never seen more passionate people.”

Some tourists remained on the island this week. “They would usually be enjoying themselves but there has been a big disaster. So it’s been a very strange atmosphere.”

As the wildfires die down, May is now concerned about the fallout for the island’s economy: “The economy here has a very short window from the end of April through to mid-October.

"July and August is the peak time and money is not going to be spent in the local bars and restaurants. That’s the money they need to see them through the winter.”

The Foreign Office has not advised Britons to avoid travel to the entire island, while some travel companies continued to fly holidaymakers to Rhodes as they said the blazes were not affecting the whole island.

Read more: Wildfires: Which countries in Europe and the Mediterranean have been affected in the past week?

On Tuesday, cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was still safe for tourists to travel to Rhodes.

Gove, who said he was planning to holiday on the Greek island of Evia next week, told Times Radio: “We do need to support the Greek government in dealing with the situation in Rhodes. My heart goes out to those who are affected. But I think the advice is clear. If you follow the Foreign Office advice, it is safe.

“I think it is the case that… the fires have been restricted to one part of the island.”

Current Foreign Office travel advice reads: “If you are due to travel to an area that might be affected by wildfires, contact your travel operator or accommodation provider before you travel to check that it is not currently impacted. Make sure you have appropriate insurance.”