{"id":340,"date":"2025-06-24T15:05:29","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/?p=340"},"modified":"2025-06-24T15:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T15:05:30","slug":"greece-declares-state-of-emergency-as-out-of-control-wildfires-rip-through-island-for-third-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/?p=340","title":{"rendered":"Greece declares state of emergency as out-of-control wildfires rip through island for third day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the Greek island of Chios<\/a> on Tuesday after authorities declared a state of emergency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens<\/a>, the northern city of Thessaloniki and the nearby island of Lesbos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Tuesday morning, the fire department said 444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eleven helicopters and two water-dropping planes were providing air support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday, when fires broke out near the island’s main town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apocalyptic scenes captured in images and videos showed firefighters battling the flames as the wildfires raged on, while thick plumes of black smoke filled the sky. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other footage showed helicopters spraying water over smoke-filled fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firefighters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firefighters try to tackle a wildfire burning on Chios island, Greece, June 23, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece has declared a state of emergency as wildfires burned for the third day in the island of Chios <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A firefighting helicopter in action during wildfire operations on Chios Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘We are faced with simultaneous fires in multiple, geographically unconnected parts of the island – a pattern that cannot be considered coincidental,’ Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Minister Giannis Kefalogiannis said Monday from Chios. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities, he said, were ‘very seriously examining the possibility of an organized criminal act, in other words arson.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minister said police forces on the island had been reinforced, while military patrols had been doubled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Whoever thinks that they can play with the lives of citizens and cause chaos with premeditated actions will be led to court,’ Kefalogiannis said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Arson is a serious crime and will be dealt with as such.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chios is in the midst of tourist season and authorities also want to prevent the fires reaching areas famous for producing  mastiha, a natural resin harvested from mastic trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular tourist destination was ravaged by wildfires last summer after a prolonged drought, which saw holidaymakers being forced to evacuate the island after the flames ‘turned the sky black with smoke.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece, Europe’s southernmost tip, is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers but authorities have blamed a fast-changing climate for fuelling more destructive blazes in recent years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flames engulfed the island leaving firefighters struggling to contain what turned into one large fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"444<\/p>\n\n\n\n

444 firefighters with 85 vehicles were tackling the blaze on scattered fronts on Tuesday. Picture shows a firefighter carrying a hose as a wildfire burns on Chios<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emergency services have issued evacuation orders for villages and settlements in the area since Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Apocalyptic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apocalyptic scenes captured in images and videos showed firefighters battling the flames <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Flames<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flames rise as a wildfire burns on Chios island, Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chios<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chios is in the midst of tourist season<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fire department has sent an arson investigation team to Chios to examine the cause of the blaze<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The popular tourist destination was ravaged by wildfires last summer after a prolonged drought<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Greece<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greece is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers. Pictured: Volunteers in action during firefighting operations on Chios Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Authorities<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities have blamed a fast-changing climate for fuelling more destructive blazes in recent years<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Firefighters<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firefighters in action during firefighting operations on Chios Island<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-14842175\/Greece-declares-state-emergency-control-wildfires-rip-island-day.html#v-2943307155951207361<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, a massive fire swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, trapping people in their homes and on roads as they tried to flee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 died, including some who drowned trying to swim away from the flames.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Athens has paid out hundreds of millions of euros in damages related to extreme weather to households and farmers and to update firefighting equipment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has a record of 18,000 firefighters this year in anticipation of a challenging fire season. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by aircraft were battling a wildfire burning out of control for the third day on the Greek island of Chios on Tuesday after authorities declared a state of emergency.  Towering walls of flames tore through forest and agricultural land on the island, where authorities have sent firefighting reinforcements from Athens, the northern city…<\/p>\n

Read More “Greece declares state of emergency as out-of-control wildfires rip through island for third day”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=340"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trendvolley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}