Two dead and hundreds evacuated after twin fires break out on Greek island

Twin Wildfires Claim Two Lives on Salamina as Hundreds Flee by Sea

Ninoda.com – Two people lost their lives and roughly 500 residents abandoned the island of Salamina via sea routes after separate blazes erupted “almost simultaneously” across the Greek island’s southern and eastern sectors on Sunday afternoon, according to local authorities.

The island, home to approximately 37,000 inhabitants — a significant proportion of whom are elderly — sits just west of Athens and had been flagged for elevated wildfire danger that day. High winds accelerated the spread of the initial fire, prompting an emergency evacuation order.

Two Fires, Minutes Apart

The first ignition was logged at 14:40 local time (11:40 GMT) in a wooded residential zone within Peristeria, a city on the island’s southern shore. Approximately twenty minutes later, a second fire ignited in the eastern town of Selinia. Investigators have not yet determined what triggered either blaze.

Fire official Vasilios Vathrakoyannis confirmed in a public statement that crews responding to the Peristeria incident discovered two bodies at the scene. The city’s mayor told Greek media outlets that the victims were believed to be a couple.

“No active front” was reported for the Selinia fire by Sunday evening, while scattered spot fires continued to be fought in the southern sector.

Massive Response Effort

Nearly 200 firefighters were committed to preventing the two blazes from converging over a central mountain ridge and merging into a single conflagration. Salamina Deputy Mayor Thodoris Zannis explained that the deployment strategy was specifically designed to stop the fires from meeting atop that elevation.

Air assets alongside 50 fire engines, supplemented by water tankers and heavy construction equipment, were dispatched to both sites. Five patrol boats and multiple private vessels were also directed toward the island for maritime support. Two coast guard craft and one fire-department vessel remained stationed in the area through Sunday night for ongoing surveillance and backup.

Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiades posted on X that at least ten additional individuals sustained burns or exhibited signs of smoke inhalation, with five of those transported to local medical facilities for treatment. By evening, Greek media reported that one fire had been contained and evacuations were complete, with 500 people having departed the island by sea.

A Continent on Fire

Salamina’s twin blazes arrived amid a broader European wildfire surge spanning the weekend. In Belgium, crews spent a third consecutive day battling flames inside Hautes Fagnes, the country’s largest nature reserve — a fire described as the biggest in recent national history that more than doubled its footprint within 24 hours.

Croatia suffered at least one fatality and dozens of injuries when a wildfire tore along its coastline overnight on Friday. Around 1,200 residents and visitors were evacuated from affected zones. Croatia’s fire chief Slavko Tucakovic characterized the event as “one of the worst” in the nation’s recorded history.

The European Union’s Copernicus climate-monitoring service confirmed that western Europe had just endured its hottest June-to-July stretch on record, underscoring the meteorological conditions fueling this week’s fire season across the continent.