Wildfires Rage On Greek Island As State of Emergency Declared

A state of emergency was put in place as massive wildfires entered their third consecutive day on Chios Island.

By early Tuesday, efforts to control the spreading fires involved 444 firefighters, 85 engines, 11 helicopters, and two planes dropping water, according to the local fire service.

Additional teams were deployed from Athens, Thessaloniki, and the neighboring island of Lesbos. Police on Chios also received reinforcements, and military presence on the island has been doubled.

An arson investigation unit has arrived to determine if the fires were deliberately set.

Climate crisis and civil protection minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said late on Monday that authorities were “very seriously examining the possibility of an organised criminal act”.

“Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,” he added. “Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.”

Mr Kefalogiannis further noted that crews were battling “simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island”, stressing that such occurrences “cannot be considered coincidental”.

The fires erupted Sunday at three different points near the island’s main town, Chios, before merging into a large blaze that has swept through forest areas and farmland.

Warnings to evacuate were issued for two regions close to Chios town early Monday.

Emergency alerts were also pushed to mobile phones, ordering residents and visitors in 16 villages and settlements near the town to leave immediately.

While summer wildfires are a frequent threat in Greece’s dry and hot climate, officials have raised concerns that climate change is contributing to the growing intensity and frequency of these fires.

Last summer, similar wildfires forced residents and tourists to evacuate the island of Kos.

In 2023, wildfires in northern Greece claimed at least 20 lives and displaced 19,000 people on the island of Rhodes.