Major wildfire breaks out on Greek island Paros as villages evacuated

A large wildfire on Paros is raging for a second day, with firefighting crews battling multiple fronts on the southern and southeastern side of one of Greece’s most popular holiday islands.

The operation was significantly reinforced at first light on Wednesday, after the fire flared up again overnight and authorities issued successive evacuation orders for residents and visitors in a total of ten areas.

The authorities remain chiefly concerned about the strong northerly winds, which hamper access for ground crews and carry embers over long distances, sparking new outbreaks.

Rekindling after sunset

The fire broke out at midday on Tuesday in the Kampi area, near Paros’ landfill site, initially burning rubbish and low vegetation.

The flames quickly spread through dry grass, farmland and rugged terrain. According to local outlet Foni tis Parou, the blaze had been largely contained by late Tuesday afternoon, but flared up again after aerial operations were suspended for the night.

During the night, the fire front moved through the wider area of Agkairia and headed towards Trypiti, while local media reported a second front advancing towards Faragas beach.

Local media also reported that Apianes hill and large tracts of land along the road to the Monastery of Agioi Theodoroi were burned. The same outlet said power cuts affected a large part of southern Paros.

Four 112 alerts

Authorities issued four successive 112 emergency alerts from Tuesday afternoon through to the early hours of Wednesday.

Initially, people in the areas of Agios Charalampos, Kampi, Bougados and Aneratza were told to move towards Aliki.

A similar order then followed for the Kamari area.

At 01:31 a.m., people in Agkairia were instructed to leave for Aliki beach.

Around 40 minutes later, a new alert urged those in Trypiti, Glyfa, Pyrgaki and Aspro Chorio to head towards Dryos.

Paros deputy mayor for civil protection, Christos Giourtzidis, told SKAI that some residents initially refused to abandon their properties because they did not want to leave their animals behind.

He said at least two livestock facilities had been destroyed, though there was still no overall picture of the damage.

Reinforced ground and aerial forces

According to the latest update from the Fire Service, 66 firefighters, four forest commando teams from the 1st Special Forest Operations Unit and 16 fire engines are taking part in the operation.

Two aircraft and five helicopters are operating from the air, one of them used to coordinate the forces. Additional aerial assets are on standby to be deployed if deemed necessary.

Ground forces have been reinforced by firefighters and vehicles from Attica, Syros, Naxos and Piraeus. A further 20 firefighters with eight vehicles are due to be shipped in by ferry from Rafina.

Volunteers, two water tankers and a piece of heavy machinery from the Municipality of Paros are also assisting the effort. Overall coordination has been assumed by the deputy chief of the Fire Service.

Rugged terrain and strong winds

The fire is burning in ravines and inaccessible areas where vehicle access is limited. According to information from Syros Civil Protection, relayed by local media, one of the active fronts was in a large ravine below the area of Agioi Pantes.

Giannis Artopios, deputy spokesman for the Fire Service, described the blaze as “difficult”, explaining that northerly winds of 6 to 7 on the Beaufort scale cause spot fires and create new fronts some distance from the main fire.

Firefighters remain deployed, carrying out continuous water drops and damping-down operations. They are expected to remain on the island until the fires are fully contained.

Paros mayor Konstantinos Bizas warned in comments to local media that winds are expected to strengthen further, with gusts locally reaching 8 Beaufort. On Wednesday, Paros is classified as risk category 3, corresponding to a high danger of wildfire.

The Cyclades Arson Crime Investigation Unit has been activated to probe the causes. So far, no information has been released on what started the fire.

Additional sources • PARIANOSTYPOS.GR, FONITISPAROU.GR, PAROS24.GR,

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