Multiple, fast-moving wildfires have tested the limits of Greece’s emergency response in recent days, with blazes advancing into neighborhoods in the western port city of Patra and causing significant damage on the eastern Aegean island of Chios.

By early Wednesday, more than 100,000 stremmas (about 10,000 hectares) of land had burned or been scorched in six major fire fronts across the country, according to official estimates, though a detailed tally of losses was not yet possible.

In Patra, Greece’s third-largest city, fires burned unchecked on the outskirts, prompting evacuation messages via the 112 emergency system urging residents to leave neighborhoods on the city’s edge and move toward the center.

The Karamandaneio Children’s Hospital was evacuated as a precaution, and homes and businesses were destroyed.

Michalis Anastasiou, the deputy mayor of civil protection in Patra, told Kathimerini that municipal appeals for substantial aerial support were not met in the critical early stages.

“Obviously there was another priority,” Anastasiou said. Mayor Kostas Peletidis also criticized what he described as inadequate state response.

The Fire Service said late Wednesday that a total of 13 aircraft and 10 helicopters, including one used for coordination, had been deployed to battle fires in the districts of Sychaina and Kato Achaia.

Elsewhere, firefighting forces were stretched thin, with at least three other major blazes – in Achaia in the northwestern Peloponnese, on Chios and in Preveza, northwestern Greece – burning out of control.

On Chios, the fire swept through the historic village of Volissos, leaving widespread destruction. “The destruction is immense,” said Yiannis Malafis, the island’s mayor, bemoaning the lack of forces to tackle the blaze.

“This fire needed countless people, four times the forces.” Officials estimated the fire’s front was immense, extending beyond 32 kilometers.

The scale and simultaneous nature of the fires, authorities stressed, underscored the growing threat posed by wildfires in Greece, particularly during the summer season, and the strain placed on aerial and ground firefighting resources.

Man accused of starting blaze in Achaia to testify

A 25-year-old man, accused of starting one of the blazes that consumed the region of Achaia earlier this week, was given time until Monday to testify before an investigative magistrate.

He was arrested last Wednesday in the Girokomeio area of Patra, Achaia’s main city, and appeared before a prosecutor on Thursday. He has denied any role in the fires.

According to reports, the suspect was seen crouching in a field and a new blaze broke out in the area shortly after he left the scene. Meanwhile, firefighters were battling another fire in the area of Sychena, for which two other men have been arrested.

Residents informed the police about his presence and he was arrested. / ekathimerini