Greek fire authorities arrested 11 people across five regions over two days as part of an enforcement surge against fire-safety violations, with the most serious case being a large agricultural and forest fire in the Argolid that investigators say was started by sparks from a tractor.
The Arson Crimes Investigation Directorate and its regional investigative units were fully deployed across incidents in Argolida, Ilia, Serres, Attica, and Lesvos, covering seven separate cases that occurred on Friday July 31 and Saturday August 1, 2026. All 11 arrests were made under the flagrante delicto procedure, which allows for immediate detention without a prior warrant.
Fichti: Farm machinery sparks major fire
The largest incident broke out at 09:51 on Friday in the Fichti area of the Argos-Mycenae municipality. According to preliminary investigation findings, a 57-year-old Greek man and a 53-year-old Greek woman were carrying out farm work with a tractor fitted with a shredder attachment when the equipment produced sparks that ignited the blaze. Both were arrested by officers from the Arson Crimes Investigation Directorate, who travelled to the area to assist the regional investigative unit.
Six further arrests across the country
At around 19:52 on Friday at Matzakoura beach in Katakolon, Ilia, a 34-year-old Greek woman set off a flare near scrubland while a Category 4 fire-danger index was in force, breaching fire-prevention measures. She was arrested by the Ilia investigative unit and issued an administrative fine of 3,000 euros.
On Saturday morning at 11:11, in an agricultural area of Draviskos in the Serres municipality of Nea Zichni, a foreign national negligently started a fire while burning waste near an illegal open dump. According to authorities, the material being burned was the plastic insulation stripped from electrical cables, which the individual was burning in order to sell the metal underneath. He was arrested by the Serres unit and fined 1,125 euros.
In Kifisia, Attica, at 09:38 on Saturday, two Albanian nationals aged 59 and 49 were found using angle grinders near forested land in breach of fire-safety law. The area was operating under a Category 5 danger index, the highest level, described as an alarm and extreme fire-danger condition. The two men were arrested by the Arson Crimes Investigation Directorate and fined 3,750 euros.
Minutes later, at 09:53, in the municipality of Spata-Artemida in eastern Attica, a 52-year-old Greek man and a 41-year-old Romanian national were also found using angle grinders in an area under the same Category 5 alert. They were arrested by the Eastern Attica investigative unit and received a combined fine of 3,750 euros.
At 13:34 on Saturday in Nea Erythrea, Attica, a 74-year-old Greek man and a foreign national were carrying out hot metalwork, including cutting with an angle grinder and welding, in the outdoor area of a private house that authorities said was heavily surrounded by forest vegetation. The work was done under the Category 5 alarm. Both were arrested by the Athens investigative unit and fined 3,000 euros.
On the island of Lesvos, an 18-year-old Greek was using a metal-cutting grinder on farmland in the Mystegna area of Mytilene municipality at 16:08 on Saturday, under a Category 4 fire-danger rating. The work negligently ignited a fire that burned approximately 50 square metres of dry grass within the plot. The teenager was arrested by the Lesvos unit and fined 3,750 euros.
254 arrests since January
The Fire Service said that from January 1 through August 1, 2026, authorities had imposed a total of 641 administrative fines worth 949,770.50 euros and carried out 254 arrests under the flagrante delicto procedure. Of those arrests, 226, representing 88.98 percent, were for negligence, and 28, representing 11.02 percent, were for intentional arson.
The Arson Crimes Investigation Directorate and the Fire Service’s investigative units said they remain fully deployed in the field, investigating every fire ignition point with the aim of establishing causes immediately and assigning criminal and administrative liability wherever legal violations are found.
The Fire Service urged the public to observe fire-protection measures strictly and to avoid any action that could start a fire, especially on days of very high or extreme danger, saying that protecting human life, the natural environment, and property is a collective responsibility.
