Forest fires are causing concern again. Forest fire vigilance was raised on Sunday to “level 4, high risk” in certain regions in Greece after numerous outbreaks of fire declared the day before, according to the Greek government.
In total on Saturday, “71 fires in agricultural and forestry regions across the country broke out in twelve hours, between 3 a.m. GMT and 3 p.m. (
between 5 a.m. and 5 p.m. Paris time
),” said the Ministry of the Climate Crisis and Civil Protection in a press release. The fires were brought under control, including "the big fire" in Lasithi on the island of Crete which continued until Sunday afternoon, according to a fire department statement.
Three people were slightly injured in this fire while one person was arrested on Sunday for “having started the fire on Saturday morning”, according to this text. He must be transferred to the Lasithi prosecutor's office on Monday, according to the same source.
Dangerous winds
According to weather forecasts, strong winds of 60 km/h will blow until Tuesday in the northern Aegean Sea, Attica (Athens metropolitan area), the Cyclades, Crete and central Greece, "which makes the extremely dangerous situation for the outbreak of fires,” the ministry said.
For these areas, “all civil protection forces will be placed at level 4 (high fire risk)”, “firefighters will be on alert and members of the armed forces will carry out patrols”, adds the ministry.
Greece recorded "a record average temperature of 11.8 degrees Celsius" during the winter of 2023-2024, described as "the hottest ever recorded in the country", according to the Athens Observatory which recently warned of “a worrying level of drought”. Since the beginning of April, temperatures have been particularly high for the season, with 31°C in Chania in Crete.
Major fires last year
Greece went through one of its longest heatwaves last summer, marked by devastating fires which left twenty dead and spread over 175,000 hectares.
Climate change is mainly cited by the government and experts as the main reason for large fires.
Despite the precautions taken to counter the problem, many people are nevertheless arrested every year in Greece accused of "setting a fire" or "having caused a fire" before often being released for lack of adequate evidence.