A 52-year-old man has been arrested on the Greek island of Evia, accused of starting the fire that devastated part of the island between Friday evening and Saturday morning, firefighters said.
The man was allegedly clearing vegetation from a plot of land when the fire broke out and quickly got out of control, public broadcaster ERT reported.
Some 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) were burned on the island to the northeast of Athens, according to Greek news agency ANA.
Greek firefighters remained on high alert Saturday due to high temperatures and strong winds across the country.
Temperatures in some regions were expected to reach 41 to 42 degrees Celsius (105,8 – 107,6 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the National Meteorological Service EMY.
A separate fire that broke out on Friday in the municipality of Koropi, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) east of Athens, was under control by Saturday, firefighters said.
Around 800 people had to be evacuated and authorities launched an investigation to determine whether the Koropi fire had been caused by negligence or a deliberate act.
At the end of June, a Georgian woman working as a house cleaner was arrested after admitting to having thrown a cigarette butt on the ground, which triggered a fire that destroyed over 4,000 hectares on the island of Chios.
A court handed her a 10,000-euro fine and a three-year jail sentence.
Greece has become particularly vulnerable in recent years to fires in the summer fuelled by strong winds, drought and high temperatures linked to climate change.
Around 45,000 hectares went up in flames last year. But 2023 remains the most destructive year, with nearly 175,000 hectares destroyed and 20 people killed.
Source: AFP
