Greece Wildfires Claim Two Lives, Hundreds Evacuated
An elderly couple died on the island of Salamina, while a large fire in the Belgian Ardennes continues to spread, devastating the Hoge Venen nature reserve.
An elderly couple died on the island of Salamina, while a large fire in the Belgian Ardennes continues to spread, devastating the Hoge Venen nature reserve.
Two people have died in wildfires that swept across the Greek island of Salamis, west of Athens, on Sunday, August 16, 2026. According to multiple international media reports, the victims were an elderly couple whose bodies were found in the garden of their home in the village of Peristeria, at the southernmost tip of the island.
The fire, as reported by NOS citing Greek media, most likely broke out at a nearby landfill close to a residential area. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Multiple fires are burning simultaneously on the island, including one near the settlement of Selini in the east of Salamis. A fire service official described the dramatic conditions on the ground to NOS: "Due to these conditions, the fire quickly reached dangerous proportions. The flames spread rapidly toward nearby residential areas."
At least eight people with burns have been taken to hospital, and numerous homes have been destroyed. Ten aircraft and eight helicopters are involved in firefighting efforts, while bulldozers are being used to create firebreaks.
Hundreds of residents and tourists have been evacuated by boats from the coast guard and firefighters, particularly from beaches near where the fire was raging.
According to a report from German public broadcaster ARD, the coast guard sent five patrol boats to Salamis to evacuate swimmers and locals, with private vessels also assisting. Almost simultaneously, two fires broke out near popular bathing spots in the south and east of the island.
Sources disagree on the exact number of firefighters deployed on Salamis. Le Monde reports that around 260 firefighters are on the ground, while BBC World cites Greek media suggesting nearly 200 firefighters are trying to separate the two fires.
Thodoris Zannis, deputy mayor of Salamis, told Greek television ERT that the goal is to prevent the two fires from merging over the hillside into one large fire front. He added that strong winds are significantly hampering firefighting efforts.
Greece is battling multiple fires simultaneously. In the Chalkidiki region in the north of the country, tourists and residents had to abandon their villages as the fire drew closer.
The Greek fire service announced that 34 forest fires had broken out across the country in the last 24 hours. In early August, a fire northwest of Athens destroyed more than 11,000 hectares of land and took five days to bring under control.
Fires are not only affecting Greece. A large fire in the Belgian Ardennes continues to spread, having so far destroyed at least 3,000 hectares of the Hoge Venen nature reserve, equivalent to about 30 square kilometers. According to the BBC, the fire has doubled in size on its third day, with hundreds of firefighters trying to contain the flames engulfing the vast park.
Le Monde describes this fire as one of the worst in Belgium's recent history.
