Cyprus and Greece brace for extreme wildfire risk

National fire coordinators in Cyprus and Greece warned that today may be the most dangerous day of the fire‑prevention season because a combination of very high temperatures, humidity below 20 % and strong winds greatly increases the likelihood of new wildfires. In Cyprus, Archip patrol Nikos Logginos said more than 1,350 outdoor fires have been recorded since the start of the year and urged citizens to avoid any activity that could spark a blaze.

In Greece, fire services reported a surge in emergency calls. Regional operation centres logged 165 calls overall – about 60 from Attica – mainly for tree‑cutting, water extraction and removal of objects, while 70 agricultural‑forest fires erupted across the country in a 24‑hour period. Most of these fires were tackled at an early stage, but eight fronts remain active. Authorities have placed parts of Rhodes and other islands under a very high fire‑danger alert and have appealed to the public to follow safety instructions.

A new web‑GIS application developed by the University of the Aegean aims to improve fire‑management on the island of Chios, offering real‑time mapping of burned areas, fire‑ignition points and weather conditions to support civil protection agencies.