A 35-year-old Georgian housekeeper was arrested in Greece on Tuesday in connection with wildfires that devastated over 11,000 acres on the island of Chios this week, officials reported.
According to Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, spokesman for the Hellenic Fire Service, the woman had been smoking prior to the outbreak of the fires, which began on Sunday and led to significant destruction of forestland on the island.
The fires forced the evacuation of more than a dozen villages, prompting a rapid response from firefighters across the country, with over 400 personnel deployed via planes and ferries to combat the blazes.
The Chios wildfires serve as a stark reminder of the increasing frequency of such incidents in Greece, particularly as the nation approaches its summer wildfire season. Climate change has exacerbated conditions, making the country hotter and drier.
Chios, one of the largest islands in the Aegean Sea, is known for its unique mastic trees, which are crucial for the local economy and tourism. While the recent fires damaged some of these trees, they did not affect the southern region of the island where most mastic trees are located.
Firefighters managed to contain most of the blazes by Thursday, as wind conditions improved. Investigators from the fire service’s Directorate for Combating Arson Crimes were deployed soon after the fires started, given the simultaneous outbreaks in multiple locations, which raised suspicions about their origins.
Greek officials noted that the occurrence of fires in scattered areas indicated potential suspicious activity, with Giannis Kefalogiannis, the Minister for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, emphasizing the need for vigilance in such circumstances.