Two people died and hundreds were evacuated after two wildfires began nearly simultaneously on the Greek island of Salamina on Sunday afternoon. Officials deployed approximately 200 firefighters to prevent the two separate blazes from merging into a single fire. Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiades reported that at least 10 people suffered burns or smoke inhalation during the event.
The island of Salamina, located west of Athens, was under a high wildfire risk warning on Sunday. The first fire was reported at 14:40 local time in Peristeria, a forested residential area on the southern coast. A second fire began approximately 20 minutes later in the eastern town of Selinia. High winds contributed to the rapid spread of the flames, though the cause of the ignitions remains unknown.
Fire department official Vasilios Vathrakoyannis stated that the bodies of two individuals were discovered at the scene of the first fire. The mayor of Peristeria told Greek media the deceased are believed to be a couple. Emergency response efforts included 50 fire engines, water tankers, construction machinery, and several aircraft. By Sunday evening, 500 people had been evacuated by sea as one of the fires was brought under control.
The scale of the response highlights the logistical demands on Greek emergency services, as 200 personnel and 50 vehicles were concentrated on a single island to manage the twin fronts. These fires occurred amidst a broader period of extreme weather across the continent; the Copernicus climate monitoring service reported that Western Europe experienced its hottest June-to-July period on record. The incident in Salamina follows other major fires in the region, including a recent blaze in Croatia that prompted 1,200 evacuations and an ongoing fire in Belgium's Hautes Fagnes nature reserve.
As of Sunday evening, the fire in Selinia was reported to have no active front, while firefighters continued to address scattered blazes in Peristeria. Two coast guard vessels and one fire department vessel remained on-site to provide surveillance and assistance. While one fire is now under control, officials have not yet provided a specific timeline for when evacuated residents may return to their homes or when the investigation into the cause of the fires will be completed.