Greek authorities have arrested 281 people over fire-related offences since the start of January, with negligence rather than deliberate arson behind the overwhelming majority of cases.
Fire service deputy spokesman Yiannis Artopios told state broadcaster ERT on August 12 that 252 of the arrests involved fires caused by negligence and 29 involved suspected arson. He spoke as the country remained on high alert for fresh blazes.
The running total is lower than in the two previous years. Between January and August 2024 the fire service recorded 360 fire-related arrests, of which 12 ended in pre-trial detention.
The equivalent figures for the same period in 2025 were 315 arrests and nine remands in custody. Alongside the arrests, the service has imposed hundreds of administrative fines each season.
A 2024 overhaul of the penal code raised the maximum sentence for forest arson from 15 to 20 years and set fines of up to €200,000, with asset confiscation also available to the courts. Fires started through negligence can now be prosecuted as a felony rather than a misdemeanour.
The enforcement drive has run alongside a season in which infrastructure, rather than arsonists, has caused the heaviest damage. Brussels Signal has reported that Greece’s ageing power grid accounts for 75 per cent of the land burned in the country this year.
The most destructive fire of the summer broke out on July 31 near Agios Vasileios in Boeotia, central Greece, and was traced to sparks from a private power line carrying electricity from a five-turbine wind farm to the national grid.
Driven by gusts of up to 130km/h, it crossed Mount Kithairon into western Attica and burned about 14,400 hectares of pine forest, scrubland and farmland before it was declared under control on August 5.
Around 200 homes were damaged or destroyed in the coastal settlement of Porto Germeno, northwest of the capital Athens. Two aircrew died on August 2 when their firefighting helicopters collided over the fire zone.
The mayor of Stylida, Ioannis Apostolou, whose construction firm built the overhead line, was remanded in custody on August 7 on four felony counts including forest arson with possible intent.
Police in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, arrested a 59-year-old man on August 12 over his suspected involvement in five fires in a two-week period. He was due to appear before a prosecutor later in the day, according to ERT.
A 33-year-old man was detained on August 11 in the Athens region after lighting a portable barbecue in a wooded area. He was fined €3,000.
