In brief
A 35-year-old housekeeper was taken into custody on Tuesday following a series of wildfires that erupted on Chios Island over the weekend, engulfing vast areas of forest. The official spokesperson for the Hellenic Fire Service, Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, revealed that the woman, of Georgian nationality, was seen smoking near the site of the fires.
The wildfires collectively ravaged more than 11,000 acres, prompting the evacuation of over a dozen nearby villages. Firefighters were mobilized from across Greece to combat the blazes, eventually deploying more than 400 personnel via land and air. With summer on the horizon, these fires, which began on Sunday, reflect the increasing severity of wildfire threats in Greece, exacerbated by climate change.Chios Island, one of the larger islands in the Aegean, is renowned for its unique mastic trees, which are essential to both the local economy and tourism. The recent fires raised concerns over the potential destruction of these valuable trees, but fortunately, the southern region—home to most mastic trees—remained unscathed. Fire officials stated that the irregular patterns of the fires hinted at possible malicious intent, with the Greek Ministry for Climate Crisis calling the occurrences "suspicious." Investigators from the Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes have since been dispatched to explore the cause of the fires.
