Residents of Grindavik, a town of some 4,000 people before it was evacuated in November, said it was difficult to watch televised images of the fires.
“This is serious, it’s basically as bad as it can possibly get. Although it might get even worse, who knows,” evacuated resident Jon Gauti Dagbjartsson told Reuters late on Sunday.
“I actually live in the house that I was born in and it’s a tough thought to think that this town might be over, and I would have to start all over somewhere else. But if that’s the case, then that’s exactly what we’ll do,” he said.
The Icelandic government will meet on Monday to decide on support for the people of Grindavik.
“We need to put a lot of extra efforts into finding more housing, suitable housing,” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said.
Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions.