Greece wildfires claim father and son, force village evacuations

A wildfire in central Greece’s Fthiotida region killed a father and his 12‑year‑old son, while the boy’s mother was treated for burns. Emergency services identified the boy’s body inside a destroyed home and the father’s body outside the property. The blaze prompted authorities to order evacuations of two nearby villages.

More than 135 firefighters, 19 water‑dropping aircraft and six helicopters were deployed to combat the fire, which also burned forest and agricultural land. Additional wildfires erupted on the same day in Halkidiki, on the island of Salamina near Athens, and in southern Greece, but those were quickly contained. Greece, which faces frequent summer fires, is increasingly relying on a new constellation of four low‑orbit satellites launched in May to monitor and detect wildfires.

The incident follows Greece’s recent history of severe fires, including the 2018 blaze east of Athens that killed over 100 people and the 2023 fire that became the largest recorded in the EU.