Wildfires on Greece Rhodes force thousands of holidaymakers to flee their hotels
Private boats have joined the Greek coastguard in helping to pick up people from beaches on the east of the island.
Greek navy vessels are also reported to be heading to the area, which is popular with tourists.
Greece's deputy fire chief said the fires on Rhodes are the most difficult his service is currently facing.
No injuries have been reported, according to the Ministry of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in Greece.
The ministry said visitors are being evacuated safelyfrom affected areas of Rhodes - which represent less than 10% of the "total tourist capacity" - and are being redirected to other hotels on the island.
Five helicopters and 173 firefighters are operating in the area, with three hotels in the Kiotari area reported to have been damaged by fire.
One British woman said she was evacuated from the hotel she was staying at with her sister and daughter, but was now stuck on a beach with hundreds of others in the severe heat.
"There's just a small shack here and there's so many of us," Becky Mulligan. "There's children, it's the middle of the day, we are just stuck here with no help, it's disgusting."
Simon Wheatley said ash had begun falling onto his pizza when he was eating.
"The hotel said this was normal and there was no need to worry as they were in contact with the authorities about the situation," he told the BBC.
His hotel was later evacuated.
"We saw that a beach bar that we were at just the day before had burnt down. The smoke was so bad. We had to leave two bags of luggage."
Travel company TUI said a small number of its hotels had been affected and it was relocating customers to alternative accommodation as a precaution.
Jet2 also said it was aware of the situation in Rhodes and was asking customers to follow local guidance.
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