Twin wildfires in Greece scorch over 111,000 stremmata by Sunday, satellite data shows

Satellite mapping of the destruction

High-resolution satellite data from Sentinel-2, which passed over Viotia and Attica at midday on Sunday 2 August 2026, reveals the full extent of the twin wildfire disaster. The imagery was processed by the meteo.gr team at the National Observatory of Athens. Analysis of data from the European Copernicus EMS mechanism shows that by 12:05 on Sunday, approximately 30,900 stremmata had burned in the Viotia fire and roughly 80,800 stremmata in the Porto Germeno fire in West Attica. The Porto Germeno blaze was still burning at the time of the satellite pass.

The total area affected by the two large forest fires is more than 111,000 stremmata.

How the fires grew over 48 hours

Earlier satellite data from the SPOT-6/7 satellite, captured on Saturday 1 August at midday, had already shown the scale of the unfolding disaster. By 11:46 on Saturday morning, Copernicus EMS analysis recorded 30,900 stremmata burned in Viotia and 35,700 stremmata in Porto Germeno, for a combined total exceeding 66,600 stremmata. The Porto Germeno front was already described as active and continuing its destructive path at that point. In the 24 hours between the Saturday and Sunday satellite passes, the Porto Germeno fire more than doubled in size, adding roughly 45,100 stremmata of burned land.

Fatalities among firefighting crews

Two firefighting helicopter pilots lost their lives on Sunday during operations to extinguish the flames. Their helicopter collided with another Bell-type helicopter while crews were battling the fire, which had been burning for three days. The incident occurred as ground and air units continued to fight the active fronts across the region.

Ongoing danger and weather conditions

Attica, Viotia and Evia remained under a Red Code alert for wildfires on Sunday. Gale-force winds were blowing across the affected areas but were expected to subside by the afternoon. The National Observatory of Athens and meteo.gr continue to monitor the fires using satellite imagery and fire-meteorological forecasting models to track the progression of the fronts.