Nine villages evacuated on Greek island of Paros as wildfire forces tourists and residents to beaches

How the fire unfolded

A wildfire ignited on Tuesday evening in Kampi, near a landfill site in western Paros, and rapidly spread south and toward the island’s center, driven by winds that one Swiss tourist estimated at 60 knots. Deputy fire chief spokesperson Yannis Artopios told public broadcaster ERT that the fire consumed dry brush and shrubs, advancing on two fronts toward Faragas beach and Tripiti. Overnight, aerial water-bombing operations were suspended, leaving ground crews to battle the flames alone.

The fire started on Tuesday evening in Kampi, near a landfill site in the west of the island, and spread south and toward the center of the island due to strong winds.

A Swiss visitor, identified as Michael G., told Blick that the fire seemed to consume half the island within six hours. He described watching the blaze from his rented beach house with his family, feeling powerless as the flames advanced. "I have already thought about how we would get away by car if it gets worse," he said.

Evacuations and emergency alerts

During the night, local authorities ordered the precautionary evacuation of nine villages, among them Agkairia, which faced a direct threat from the advancing fire front. Residents and tourists received emergency SMS alerts instructing them to move to beaches. One alert sent at 2:10 a.m. local time directed people to the Drios beach. No official count of evacuees has been released, but local media reported that the notifications functioned smoothly, with residents complying and moving to the shore.

After six hours, suddenly half the island was in flames. Out of nowhere! You are totally powerless, you can only watch. That is terrifying!

Haris Giourtzidis, the deputy mayor of Paros for civil protection, told Skai that two stables were confirmed burned but that a full damage assessment was not yet possible. No injuries or destroyed homes were reported by midday on Wednesday.

Firefighting response and containment

At daybreak, two water-bombing planes from Athens joined five helicopters already on scene, supported by around 100 firefighters, including units from the neighbouring islands of Naxos and Syros and a 20-person contingent from Rafina on the mainland. By 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, the fire service reported a dramatic improvement, with no active fire front remaining. A fire service spokesperson told ERT News that scattered hot spots were still being monitored and that the risk of re-ignition remained high due to continuing strong winds.

There are still scattered hot spots and we must remain vigilant.

The local official for Paros and Antiparos, Vazeos Petropoulos, confirmed that although the fire was weaker on Wednesday morning, the situation demanded continued caution. Greece has reinforced its firefighting apparatus in recent years, now operating 85 state-owned water bombers, 18,000 professional and seasonal firefighters, and more than 100 drone bases in high-risk areas.

Wider context and this summer

This summer, Greece has been largely spared the prolonged heatwaves afflicting other parts of Europe, particularly France and Spain, where massive fires have burned some 130,000 hectares and forced thousands to evacuate. Greece had a three-day heatwave last week, with temperatures locally reaching 43°C, and the meteorological service noted that a 40°C threshold had been breached at this late stage of July only twice before since 2011. The fire risk for Wednesday was set at category 3 on a five-level scale, with category 4 alerts issued for Crete, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Ikaria, and Psara.