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Summer in Repeated Tension

This summer, wildfires are indiscriminately besieging various regions of Greece, from Evia to Crete and Thassos, Greece for yet another summer is under fire siege. The flames rage, cutting power, closing roads, emptying beaches and hotels. In Evia, aerial resources and hundreds of firefighters are operating daily, while in Crete more than 5,000 people have been evacuated from tourist areas. At the same time, in Thassos, the fire reached close to residential areas while damage to infrastructure and widespread power cuts were also recorded (1); (2).

Chios becomes this year the latest chapter in a tragic repetition. From 22 to 24 June 2025, the fire that broke out on the island burned more than 40,000 acres, of which 32,240 were natural, mainly forest vegetation. According to the preliminary analysis of the FLAME Fire Meteorological Team of EAA/meteo.gr and WWF Hellas, the fire initially moved at an estimated speed of 0.80 km/h, to slow down to 0.35 and later to 0.10 km/h, destroying successively thousands of acres. Over 3,800 acres affected protected areas, while natural regeneration is now considered uncertain for about 20,000 acres already burned in 2012 and 2016. Chios is no exception: it is a symptom of a wider failure of management and prevention, of a Greece that seems to be dealing with the same, uncontrollable fronts every summer – only the effects are deepening.

This crisis is not a purely Greek affair. In neighbouring Turkey, the province of Izmir already counts two dead and hundreds displaced, while in Syria the flames in Latakia have closed roads and endangered communities in a country already suffering from war. This Mediterranean cycle of intensity seems to repeat itself every summer with an exponential increase in their intensity, with a consolidation; the main features being strong winds, drought and high temperatures (4).

In this setting, Greece operates like a miniature Mediterranean: touristic, mountainous, with precious forests, but with glaring institutional weaknesses in prevention and management. The same images play out every summer – but the consequences are becoming.

The Shadow of Climate Change

Forest fires in the Mediterranean are not just more frequent; they are more destructive and more unpredictable. The term ‘extreme wildfire’ has now entered international scientific terminology, describing incidents that cannot be contained by normal firefighting means and escape any verifiable reasonable prediction (5). Fires start earlier while lasting longer and spreading faster, rendering even the natural defences of Mediterranean ecosystems inadequate.

According to EFFIS data, in 2025 more than 214,000 hectares have already burned across the EU in 2025 – more than double the average of the last 20 years. Scientists again from the University of East Anglia warn that the Mediterranean climate is “breaking away from stability” and becoming hostile to forest regeneration: the more intense the fire, the poorer and more flammable the new generation of ecosystems.

The case of Greece in the summer of 2025 accurately illustrates this phenomenon. Evia, Crete and Thassos were early on put on a high risk index, with fires exacerbated by strong winds and extremely dry conditions when temperatures exceeded 38°C, with the tourist season beginning with mass evacuations of areas (2);  (4). At the same time, the lack of moisture and accumulated fuel from previous years make any spark potentially catastrophic.

The Mediterranean, according to the United Nations, is warming 20% faster than the global average. The chain linking the climate crisis, biodiversity, the economy and public safety appears to be broken. And in this new normal, even fire-adapted ecological balances now seem inadequate (13).

 

 

Fire as an Indicator of Political Failure

In Greece, fires no longer appear just as unpleasant events but as periodic natural phenomena that appear for a while and then stop; they are also offered as indicators of “political success/efficiency”, being dangerous factors that can “burn” the ratings of those in power. This year’s fire season is no exception, and not only because of high temperatures. State management remains uncoordinated, with pathologies repeating themselves with mathematical precision. The lack of preparation is not just an operational problem: it is the result of political choice, institutional indifference and administrative stagnation.

A typical example is the report on fire protection that was sent to the government in 2023 and systematically ignored, as revealed by Niki Bakoulis’ report on News247. The report contained costed and workable proposals for prevention, fuel management, strengthening the role of forestry departments and creating local preparedness plans – none of which were implemented.

At the same time, transparency and accountability are in constant decline. Public debate is limited to communication proclamations and “blame posts” for climate change, while the actual data on operational manipulations, shortcomings or failures are rarely made public, leaving the necessary room for the argument of lack of transparency and accountability to be made; with responsibility dispersed between ministries, regions, municipalities, fire brigade operational formations, etc. without ever making a single institutional assessment, making it a modus operandi. Instead of seeking the causes of inefficiency and attributing responsibility, the logic of “it is not our fault, it is nature’s fault” prevails, turning fires into a pretext for perpetuating institutional inertia.

This picture is confirmed by the research of Data Journalists, which highlighted a series of mistakes in the operational movements of 2023 and 2024 with uncoordinated evacuation orders, unused resources, inadequate action plans per region, and a national fire protection plan that was never implemented in practice. The fire, therefore, apart from being a thermal threat, is also a political mirror showing prolonged institutional inefficiency, which, as long as it remains unresolved, condemns the country to count the same ashes every year.

From Firefighting to Prevention – A Plan without a Body

In recent years, the state rhetoric on forest fires seems to have shifted: from suppression to prevention. At the level of announcements, this shift is evident. The new operational doctrine of the Fire Service for 2024, as presented, speaks of preventive interventions in forests, new trainings, interconnection of agencies and cooperation with the scientific community. However, this plan looks more like wishful thinking than an implementable policy, as both funding and evaluation mechanisms are missing (10).

The recruitment of volunteers and citizens remains necessary, especially in areas with staff shortages, but their contribution is often undermined by a lack of infrastructure, institutional integration and training. As Dora Karatziou notes in LIFO, volunteers are left to their own devices, with no clear roles or meaningful support, acting as fire reserves rather than as integrated links in the civil protection system. At the same time, the coexistence of multiple decision centres, without a single command, creates confusion in the field. While the Ministry of Climate Crisis gives directions, the Regions act in a fragmented manner, the municipalities are absent and the Forestry Service acts in a marginal manner (6).

In an off-the-record conversation with an experienced Fire Department officer in Greece, who has served in key operational posts and asked to remain anonymous, the internal view of the mechanism, which remains institutionally disorganized, is depicted with blunt realism.

“The reality is that we are called upon to cope with situations with an administrative setup that has not been modernized in substance,” says the senior Fire Department official, stressing that the problem is not only operational but has institutional roots. He continues, “From the lack of interconnection between agencies to the understaffing of services and lack of training in new fire conditions, the situation is overwhelming us and we see every summer firefighters on the verge of collapse”. At the same time, in our discussion, he stressed the need to move from the model of emergency response to the logic of prevention, through stable funding, the establishment of joint action plans per region, and the effective involvement of local communities. “We cannot talk about effective protection when forest services are decimated and any measures are planned without risk mapping. Fire is not dealt with by Canadair alone, but with site management and political will,” he concludes.

At the end of our conversation, and in response to a question regarding core solutions, he replied that: “In many parts of the country there is not a single cleared forest road, nor basic access plans for ground-based means. Local authorities are simply waiting for aerial means as if the fire will be put out by remote control,” A.H. commented. […] “Serious prevention includes constant care of the site with clean-ups, containment zones for potential fires, mapping of risk areas based on vegetation and morphology, and active participation of the local community with constant training of volunteer groups. Simple, stable structural units are needed: intervention teams per municipality with mandatory fire protection plans, adequate funding and coordination by a single body, not dispersed across ten ministries and as many agencies. And, of course, to abolish the logic of ‘last-minute’ notices that arrive at the forestry offices in July”.

In conclusion – A Mediterranean on Fire

The image of the Mediterranean summer of 2025 is no longer just postcard landscapes; it is silent coastlines of rubble, sunburnt areas where once there were olive groves. The reality is common to the Mediterranean, forests are burning, tourist areas are being evacuated, and the climate crisis is revealing the cracks in the protection structures of each state (13); (1).

Greece encapsulates all the symptoms of the Mediterranean impasse, with its own share of climate risk, long-standing urban pathologies and mismanagement. Yet the phenomenon is transnational: Turkey, Syria, Spain and Italy are experiencing similar disasters. Yet, common transnational protocols for prevention, data sharing or coordinated policy are absent (8); (4).

Against this backdrop, Greece cannot continue to treat fires as national incidents. It must invest in transnational cooperation, harness European expertise and support a new model of civil protection that is not fire-centred but citizen-centred and landscape-centred.

 

References:

1.To Vima. (2025, July 10). Greece: Wildfire hits Thasos Island, triggers closures and outages. https://www.tovima.com/society/greece-wildfire-hits-thasos-island-triggers-closures-and-outages/

 

2.Reuters. (2025, July 5). Greece battles wildfire in Evia, reports progress on Crete. 

https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/greece-battles-wildfire-evia-reports-progress-crete-2025-07-05/

3.Bakouli, N. (2024, August 13). Η έκθεση που έλαβε και αγνόησε η ελληνική κυβέρνηση για τις φωτιές. News247. https://www.news247.gr/magazine/reportage/i-ekthesi-pou-elave-kai-agnoise-i-elliniki-kivernisi-gia-tis-foties/

4.The Associated Press. (2025, July 4). Wildfire in Greece prompts evacuation; firefighters tackle blazes in Turkey, Syria. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/04/nx-s1-5456730/greece-wildfires-firefighters-turkey

5.Sky News. (2024, August 14). Πώς η κλιματική αλλαγή οδηγεί σε ακραίες πυρκαγιές στην Ελλάδα. Liberal.gr. https://www.liberal.gr/ellada/pos-i-klimatiki-allagi-odigei-se-akraies-pyrkagies-stin-ellada

 

6.Siouti, V. (2021, August 7). Πυρκαγιές, λογοδοσία και διαφάνεια. LIFO. https://www.lifo.gr/stiles/optiki-gonia/pyrkagies-logodosia-kai-diafaneia

 

7.Karatziou, D. (2024, June 4). Δασικές πυρκαγιές: Πόσο έτοιμοι είμαστε να τις αντιμετωπίσουμε; LIFO.https://www.lifo.gr/stiles/optiki-gonia/dasikes-pyrkagies-poso-etoimoi-eimaste-na-tis-antimetopisoyme

8.LIFO. (2021, August 6). Αντιπυρική πολιτική, επιστημονική προσέγγιση και ευθύνη του πολίτη. https://www.lifo.gr/blogs/almanac/antipyriki-politiki-epistimoniki-proseggisi-kai-eythyni-toy-politi

 

9.Karatziou, D. (2023, July 20). Δασικές πυρκαγιές: Τι πηγαίνει τόσο λάθος; LIFO. https://www.lifo.gr/stiles/optiki-gonia/dasikes-pyrkagies-ti-pigainei-toso-lathos

 

10.Naftemporiki. (2024, March 21). Πυροσβεστική: Το νέο επιχειρησιακό δόγμα για την αντιμετώπιση των δασικών πυρκαγιών. https://www.naftemporiki.gr/society/1621472/pyrosvestiki-to-neo-epicheirisiako-dogma-gia-tin-antimetopisi-ton-dasikon-pyrkagion/

 

11.Data Journalists. (2024, July 2). Λάθη επί λαθών με τις πυρκαγιές. https://www.datajournalists.co.uk/2024/07/02/lathi-epi-lathon-me-tis-pyrkagies/

 

12.Triantafyllou, D. (2025, June 22). Chios: How the wildfire spread – It burned more than 40,000 stremmata [Advance publication: FLAME–Meteo–WWF Greece analysis]. Kathimerini. https://www.kathimerini.gr/life/environment/563680771/chios-pos-exaplothike-i-pyrkagia-kai-ti-ekapse/

 

13.Gupta, D. (2025, July 9). Recurrent wildfires across the Mediterranean region are changing its landscape. France 24. 

https://www.france24.com/en/environment/20250709-recurrent-wildfires-across-the-mediterranean-region-are-changing-its-landscape

 

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