One-hundred and nine wildfires and rural blazes required a fire-fighting response over the past two days around mainland Greece and a handful of islands, with no less than 48 fires erupting over the last 24 hours alone.
The annual “scourge” of the southern Mediterranean again surfaced with a vengeance in Greece as well this season – along with other countries around the basin – fanned by very gusty winds, high temperatures, arid soil conditions and combustible flora (pines, fir).
The most difficult blazes remained near the western port city of Patras, at the Sychainà and Kato Achaia sites, on the Ionian Sea Island of Zakynthos, near the northwest city of Filippiada, on the northern part of the eastern Aegean Island of Chios (Hios), and a more recent fire on the Ionian Island of Kefalonia (Cephalonia).
Notifications were sent to residents in affected areas to remain vigilant or to evacuate.
A children’s hospital and a retirement home near Patra were evacuated as a precaution.
All total, the total area affected by wildfires in the country this week is estimated at 10,000 hectares (40K acres).
The worst damage was reported in Achaia prefecture (Patras area), with several residences, businesses and warehouses burned in the district’s industrial district.
In an announcement on Wednesday, the local municipality said the Pampeloponnisiako Stadium has been opened to host residents whose homes have been damaged in the fires.
One of the first relief measures announced came on Wednesday, with the civil defense ministry announcing a suspension of the imposed property tax (ENFIA) for three years on regions affected by wildfires after June 2025.
The Mantoudi-Limni-Aghia Anna district is also included, as an earthquake caused damage there on May 19, 2025, with a state of emergency subsequent declared.
A fire-fighting plane lands in the waters off the port city of Patras, in western Greece, and with the Rio-Antirrio cable bridge in the background, on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.
Meanwhile, a photo making the rounds on social media on Wednesday shows a group of fire-fighters sleeping on the pavement of a road on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, after an all-night battle with the flames of a major wildfire raging in the isle’s north.
