Greece is facing a new wave of devastating wildfires, with around 200 firefighters battling a blaze southeast of Athens. The outbreak comes just days after Greek firefighters gained control of a deadly blaze in the Attica region, which killed at least five firefighters. The country’s extreme heatwaves have created tinderbox conditions, with large parts of the south at an ‘extreme’ or ‘very high’ risk of wildfires, and temperatures expected to reach 35C later this week.
Fires started by sparks from the electricity grid have reportedly been responsible for as much as 75 per cent of the land burned in Greece this year, with over 30,000 hectares scorched so far, according to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). The blistering heat has led to 25,000 related deaths this year, exacerbating wildfires that have burnt more than 550,000 hectares of land across Europe. The safety of Greece’s energy infrastructure in fire-prone areas has been raised, especially with its prevention efforts having been significantly hindered by the stringent austerity programme last decade.
Early investigations into the Attica fire suggested that it started in the region of Boeotia after sparks from conductors on a private network transmitting electricity generated by wind turbines to the main power grid. A nationwide investigation into wind farms has been ordered by Greek prosecutors following the Attica fire, which will look into whether the farms are operating with the necessary permits and are following the rules governing their operation. This year’s wildfires are not the worst on record in Greece, but the country remains vulnerable to devastating blazes due to a decade of significant underfunding for prevention efforts.
Forestry service officials have stated that understaffing is hindering efforts to prevent fires or deal with their aftermath, after their funding was shrunk following a sovereign debt crisis last decade. The number of staff dealing with fire prevention and mitigation has more than halved since the year 2000 to fewer than 3,000 today. However, the government now recognises the problem and has added some 300 staff to the forestry service since 2024, using hundreds of millions in EU funding to pay for thousands of firefighters and equipment this decade.
