A state of emergency has been declared on the third day of major wildfires on the Greek island of Chios.
By Tuesday morning, more than 444 firefighters, 85 fire engines, 11 helicopters, and two water-dropping planes had been scrambled to help tackle the flames, the island’s fire department said.
Reinforcements have been sent from Athens, the city of Thessaloniki, and nearby island of Lesbos, with Chios’s police force also receiving extra support, and the number of military personnel in the area doubled.
The fire department has also sent in an arson investigation team to decipher any criminal cause.
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 said emergency services are tackling “simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island”, which he suggested “cannot be considered coincidental”.
Flames have been tearing through Chios’s forest and agricultural land after fires started in three separate locations near the main town, which is also called Chios, on Sunday, before connecting to form one big blaze.
Evacuation notifications were issued for two areas near Chios town on Monday morning.
Push alerts were sent to mobile phones in the area urging people to evacuate 16 villages and settlements on the outskirts of the town.
Wildfires are common during Greece’s hot, dry summers, but authorities say climate change is fuelling bigger and more frequent blazes.
Last year, hundreds of tourists and residents were forced to flee wildfires on the holiday island of Kos.
In 2023, forest fires killed at least 20 people in the north of the country and forced 19,000 people to flee the island of Rhodes.
