Major wildfires again bedevil Greece, from far northeast corner to greater Athens area; top prosecutor orders arson probe

Fire-fighters, civil protection personnel and volunteers around mainland Greece continued to battle roughly half a dozen major wildfires in the east Mediterranean country on Wednesday, amid highly unfavorable weather – heat, arid soil conditions and gusty winds – in tandem with suspicions of arson in many instances.

The latest worrying blaze erupted due west of the greater Athens-Piraeus agglomeration, in the verdant Fyli district. This wildfire potentially threatens the Mt. Parnitha national park overlooking Athens from the northwest. Residents in three remote settlements in the area received an evacuation order by mobile phone warning, while the flames were close to the populated west Athens municipality of Menidi.

Heavy smoke blackened the skies over the greater Athens area on Wednesday.

According to the fire brigade, a total of 209 new fires over the past 72 hours were extinguished in short order or are still being battled, with the worst blaze raging since Saturday in the southern half of the extreme northeast border prefecture of Evros, near the port city of Alexandroupolis.

This blaze claimed the life of at least 19 individuals, whose charred bodies were located in a burned segment of the Dadia Forest. The victims are believed to be third country nationals who illegally entered Greece from neighboring Turkey in a bid to reach western Europe. Two of the victims are believed to be minors.

The bodies were located inside and within 500 meters of a makeshift sheep pen some 10 kilometers north of Alexandroupolis.

Referring to the macabre discovery on Monday, Fire Brigade spokesman Yannis Artopios said the bodies were found along paths used by migrant smugglers to reach the northeast Greek hinterland. He added that no less than 15 wildfires erupted almost simultaneously between the Dadia Forest and the strategic port-city of Alexandroupolis, with the country’s national intelligence agency (EYP) joining the fire brigade’s own investigation into the blazes’ causes.

In terms of the wildfire in the Fyli district, due to its proximity to greater Athens a large fire-fighting force, operating more than with 65 vehicles and tankers, was battling the blaze. Seven water-dropping aircraft were also operating at the site.
The Fyli site lies near the industrial zone of Aspropyrgos, where another trio of “suspicious” wildfires erupted earlier this week, threatening logistics centers, recycling units-cum junk yards and some housing.

New wildfires were also reported at the Zaltsa site in south-central Viotia (Boeotia) prefecture, north of the harbor town of Nafpaktia, also in south-central Greece on the Corinth Gulf, as well as on the northeast Aegean Island of Samothrace. The latter blaze was reported as extinguished on Wednesday morning.

Ηigh court prosecutor orders urgent probe into Evros wildfires, alleged vigilantism

Meanwhile, in relation to the spate of wildfires that erupted back-to-back in the same general vicinity in Evros prefecture, Supreme Court chief prosecutor Georgia Adilini ordered prosecutors in Alexandroupolis to investigate whether the blazes are part of an organized campaign of arson. She also ordered a probe into press reports – replete with video footage – of violence by groups of local residents against detained third country nationals intercepted after illegally entering Greece.