Housekeeper Arrested in Connection to Wildfires that Scorched 11,000 Acres in Greece as Historic Nea Moni Monastery Survives

The historic Nea Moni Monastery remains unscathed in the center of a landscape that was once covered in greenery. Photo: Konstantinos Anagnostou/Reuters

CHIOS — A 35-year-old Georgian woman working as a housekeeper was arrested Tuesday, June 24 in connection with a series of wildfires that ravaged the Aegean island of Chios this week, consuming more than 11,000 acres and forcing widespread evacuations.

“She’d been smoking,” said Vassilis Vathrakoyiannis, spokesman for the Hellenic Fire Service, linking the woman to one of five fires that erupted Sunday, June 22 and Monday, June 23 in separate areas of the island. Fire investigators quickly flagged the blazes as suspicious due to their scattered ignition points.

Over 400 firefighters from across Greece were deployed by air and sea to battle the flames, which threatened forestlands and Chios’ prized mastic trees – an economic and cultural staple. While the fires damaged some trees, the southern groves, home to most of the resin-producing species, were largely spared.

“The fires this week damaged some of the island’s trees, according to local media, but did not burn the southern part of the island, where the majority of the mastic trees grow,” the New York Times reported. “Three of the blazes started on Sunday; another two began on Monday amid sweltering, windy conditions. Firefighters had contained most of the fires by Thursday, as winds calmed.”

Miraculously, the Nea Moni Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that has stood since the 11th century, was spared. Much of the land around the monastery was affected, and 17% of the island suffered from the fires overall.

This latest incident underscores growing fears in Greece over increasingly severe wildfires as the country braces for the peak of the summer fire season.

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