Officials have proof that the fires on Chios are due to an arson attack. On such a note, Public Order Minister Nikos Dendias on Tuesday called on Greece’s intelligence agency to help hunt down arsonists suspected of being behind wildfires that have wreaked havoc on the island of Chios and elsewhere around the country. Referring to the raging inferno that is still burning on the island, Dendias said that there are serious indications, if not proof, that the fires on Chios are due to arson and we have therefore mobilized together with the fire service, the police and the National Intelligence Service.
The three fronts that are currently being battled by tens of fire-fighters on the island, have destroyed tens of thousands of farm and forest land including almost 40 percent of this year's Mastic production. The fire service has razed around 25-30 percent of the island’s precious mastic trees.
Recording of the damage done to the island’s mastic and other crops began on Tuesday by a team of inspectors from the Agricultural Insurance Organization (OLGA), who said that it will take approximately 10 days to fully assess the magnitude of the destruction. The Chios Mastic Growers Association, however, said that it estimates the crop damages will come to around 4 million euros.
Meanwhile a spokesman from the fire department revealed that a total of 282 blazes have been battled over the last week alone, 86 of which broke out only on Tuesday!
He said that the number of fronts as well as the timing of these fires only suggest that they are the products of ORCHESTRATED ARSON ATTACKS! He then cited the case of Zakynthos, where four blazes started almost simultaneously at different points of the island.
In other areas of the country, a fire broke out near Ancient Nemea in the northeastern Peloponnese and temporarily shut down the national highway from Corinth to Tripoli. Traffic was diverted to byroads, as nine fire trucks and two water-dropping planes tried to quell the flames.
On the other hand, the fire that began on Monday in Troizonia in the eastern Peloponnese also continued to burn on Tuesday, as did a blaze in Gytheio, in Laconia.
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