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At War with Wildfires: The Climate in Greece

Kara Hall
Image of wildfires in Greece

Kara Hall

Tens of thousands of holidaymakers and locals have been forced to abandon their homes and vacations as wildfires spread across the Greek Islands. 

Rhodes and Corfu, two of the largest Greek Islands and most popular holiday destinations, have been overwhelmed by wildfires since the country experienced its hottest day of the year.

Since July 18th, fires have spread from central Rhodes, with the fires initially contained for much of last week. Saturday 22nd saw the fires spread rapidly towards the eastern coast following the continuing heatwave in Greece.

“Many believe arson is partly to blame.”

Greek locals and authorities have questioned how the fires started. Many believe arson is partly to blame.

Fire Service Spokesman, Yiannis Artopios, told a Greek news network: “We currently have several people being questioned in connection with their probable involvement.”

Who has been affected?

Greek officials have launched their largest evacuation impacting over 19,000 people, mainly made up of tourists in hotels fleeing from the Aegean Islands. It is estimated that 10,000  of those are British.

An evacuation alert was sounded early Saturday afternoon, forcing many tourists and residents to head for local gyms, school buildings, and hotel conference centres to flee the spreading infernos.

“The smoke was coming. So we all set off on foot. I walked 12 miles in this heat yesterday.”

Holiday goers walked for hours in the scorching heat as fires continued to spread through Corfu and Rhodes. British tourist, Chris Freestone, told Reuters News Agency, “The smoke was coming. So we all set off on foot. I walked 12 miles in this heat yesterday. It took me four hours.”

Satellite images have shown the detrimental environmental impact the wildfires have had on Rhodes’s landscape. The exceptionally dry climate on the island following weeks of drought has nurtured the wildfires and has seen the land scorched from the inferno.

What now?

As of June 27th, fires continue to burn in Greece as the heatwave shows no signs of minimizing. Firefighters continue to battle burning on the Island of Rhodes.

“For those remaining in Corfu, officials are recommending locals and tourists relocate to Ipsos.”

However, it is thought that these wildfires are beginning to abate, according to Inews. For those remaining in Corfu, officials are recommending locals and tourists relocate to Ipsos.

Natural disaster alerts are still active in areas such as Attica and the Island Evia.

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Features image courtesy of Anasmeister on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.

Originally from Birmingham, Kara is a Politics and International Studies student at the University of Warwick where she is the EIC of Warwick Labour's Magazine, as well as a Current Affairs Editor for Empoword.

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