Greek authorities ordered the arrest of dozens of alleged "arsonist scum" following the wildfires that have killed at least 20 people.
Officials warned that other suspects are trying to ignite new blazes, with nine arson attempts within four hours on Thursday morning in the Avlona area in the northern foothills of Mount Parnitha.
Greece Arrests "Arsonist Scum"
In a statement, Greek Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Vassilis Kikilias, said that arsonist scum was setting the fires that threatened the region's forests, property, and human lives. In the televised Thursday speech, Kikilias said they were committing a crime against the country.
So far, authorities have made 140 wildfire-related arrests, including 17 for negligence and 23 others for deliberate arson. Nearly all arrests were made for heat-inducing or agricultural outdoor work, said the national fire and rescue service agency, the Hellenic Fire Service.
Firefighters discovered the bodies of 18 people on Tuesday who were believed to have been migrants. They were found in a recently burned forest area near the northwestern port city of Alexandroupolis, an area close to the country's border with Turkey, as per ABC7 Chicago.
There were reports that two more people died on Monday, one in northern Greece and the other in the central part of the European nation. At least 60 firefighters were injured or developed serious breathing problems while working to contain hundreds of wildfires burning across Greece last week.
The Alexandroupolis fire has already burned through more than 730 square kilometers in the last six days. The European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said it was the largest on record in the European Union.
In total, 246 firefighters, 40 vehicles, and eight aircraft were deployed by eight countries to support Greece's fight against the wildfires. The Hellenic Fire Service said that Albanian, Bulgarian, Czech, and Romanian firefighters with vehicles were assisting officials with the Alexandroupolis fire.
Threat of Wildfires
The Greek Civil Protection Ministry also said there was a high risk for fires to burn through several areas throughout the weekend. According to Forbes, these areas include Attica, Boeotia, Corinth, Evia, Evros, Rhodope, Samothrace, and Skyros.
A spokesperson for the Hellenic Fire Service, Yannis Artiopios, said a fire in Evros was the "most active part of all the fronts we are facing at the moment." He added that the situation in the area is considered the most difficult to address.
As summer wildfires are commonplace in Greece, scientists linked the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, including heatwaves, to climate change.
The director of the Centre for Wildfire Research at Swansea University, Stefan Doerr, said that more flammable landscapes resulting from hot weather or poor vegetation management mean that arson and other similar incidents can transform into fast-moving wildfires.
Authorities reported that just last month, thousands of people were forced to flee fires on the Greek island of Rhodes after the flames broke out in the area and other parts of the nation, said BBC.
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