After suffering from the biggest wildfires ever recorded in the EU last year, Greece is not looking at a better summer in 2024, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis warning of a “particularly dangerous” period ahead.
On Monday evening, fire department spokesman Vasilis Vathrakoyiannis said 52 wildfires had started over the previous 24 hours, 44 of which had been successfully put out in early stages, before spreading to larger areas. The remaining 8 proved harder to combat, with efforts still ongoing in putting them out.
Of those, two were in the islands of Chios and Kos, where residents and tourists were evacuated on Monday and Tuesday as blazes could not be contained. So far, 5 people and 2 firefighters have been injured, none with life-threatening burns, Vathrakoyiannis confirmed.
We are entering the tough core of the anti-fire period.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece
“We have had an exceptionally difficult June regarding weather conditions, with high levels of drought and unusually strong winds for this season”, Mirsokais said on Monday. “We are entering the tough core of the anti-fire period, and this will certainly not be won without the help of the public as well, particularly in the field of prevention.”
Over 140 firefighters, including 8 teams specialising in wildfires were dispatched to the island of Chios Monday morning, as well as 7 planes and 3 helicopters equipped with water dropping systems. By the evening, more teams from Athens and the nearby island of Lesbos were sent by boat. “The situation remains difficult in Chios, and all Civil Protection forces will make great efforts to limit it”, Vathrakoyiannis said in an evening briefing.
Over in Kos, the fire started around noon on Monday, and over 100 firefighters, 6 planes and 2 helicopters were already on site by the evening, including teams from Athens. Powered by wind, by the evening, the flames spread significantly. “It’s really windy here, it will be like a tinderbox”, a tourist on holiday with her family told Sky News. “The sky is covered in smoke. You feel like you’re in the apocalypse, or some sort of war film.”
Just the day before, the wind also fuelled two large forest fires near Athens, one about 60 kilometres south of the capital and another near the suburb of Stamata. Although no casualties were reported, the former took 4 homes and multiple cars in its path, while the latter thankfully moved up Mount Penteli instead of towards the city. A total of 230 firefighters, 17 planes and 12 helicopters were necessary to put out the flames.
At the time of writing, another fire close to Athens is ongoing, with footage of extinguishing efforts shared on social media platform X.
Last year saw the hottest month of July in the past 120,000 years, with heat storms taking over Europe and wildfires spreading in destinations like Sicily, Croatia and Greece. In a vicious circle where climate change increases ignition frequency and wildfires contribute to global warming, scientists have reported that extreme wildfires have doubled in frequency and intensity over last two decades.
