A wildfire at Koropi near Athens that was fanned by strong winds and high temperatures on Wednesday has been brought under control while arson is suspected.
Strong firefighting forces remain to prevent flare-ups, with 155 firefighters, four ground teams, 45 vehicles, six aircraft, and 12 helicopters deployed.
Two villages and three private schools near the town of Koropi were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said, with traffic cut off in the vicinity.
“Fire spread rapidly in the area due to very strong winds with gusts that reached force eight on the Beaufort scale,” equal to gale speeds of 62 to 74 kilometers per hour, fire department spokesman Vassilis Vathrakogiannis told the press.
With temperatures reaching 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Attica region surrounding the capital, Greece’s civil protection services warned of a “very high” fire risk Wednesday and Thursday in several parts of the country.
Firefighters were battling blazes on five fronts on the Peloponnese peninsula, on the Aegean island of Lesvos, in Preveza, in Larissa and near Thessaloniki, according to the authorities.
Regularly hit by searing summer temperatures, Greece experienced what meteorologists said was its earliest heatwave in recorded history last week.
Arson suspected for Koropi wildfire
Visual material showing an arsonist setting fire to dry weeds on the Koropi-Vari road is in the hands of Fire Brigade and Greek police investigators, Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias said.
“The fire spread very fast, but there are documented indications that its cause was not weather conditions alone,” Kikilias said, referring to high-velocity winds hampering firefighters.
The minister added, “The Fire Brigade and Greek police investigators have visual material that clearly shows an arsonist setting fire to dry weeds on the Vari-Koropi road, while a can of petroleum and a cloth to ignite the fire were found nearby.
“When we have permission from the Fire Brigade and Hellenic Police’s Directorate of Managing Crimes of Arson, we shall release the material to the public.”
Accidentally starting a wildfire is now a criminal act
Accidentally starting a wildfire is now a criminal act, while even the smallest fire can quickly rage out of control in the current conditions, Kikilias warned in a social media post on Wednesday. He was commenting on the arrest of a 30-year-old Greek man on Tuesday for starting a wildfire in Nigrita, Serres.
Announcing the arrest, Kikilias noted that the 30-year-old “confessed that while carrying out agricultural work, he caused the dangerous fire we faced in Nigrita, Serres.”
The minister also noted that “the law has been made stricter and negligence constitutes a criminal act.”