English: On June 22, 2025, five wildfires broke out on the Greece island of Chios. Gusting winds and high air temperatures fanned the flames, and the fires grew rapidly, resulting in evacuations of seven settlements and widespread damage, according to a report published on ReliefWeb on June 24. These towns were Kofina, Agia Anna, Agios Makarios Vrontadon, Agios Markos, Agiasmata, Vessa, Lithi, Elata, and Armolia.

The government declared a state of emergency on the island of Chios on June 23 as the fire continued to show rapid and aggressive growth. By June 24, satellite imagery estimated that roughly 2,000 to 2,500 acres had been burnt on the island and media reported that additional evacuations occurred. More than 440 firefighters, 85 vehicles, 13 helicopters, and 4 aircraft were used to fight the ongoing fires.

On June 23, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image of the raging wildfires on the island of Chios, Greece. A dense plume of gray smoke can be seen rising from the fires and blowing more than 270 miles (435 kilometers) to the southwest. Smoke also hangs over the Aegean Sea just west of the Peloponnese peninsula. This appears to have come from the Chios wildfires as there were no fires reported elsewhere in Greece on that day.

Media updates late on June 24 reported that firefighters had made good progress reducing the number of fire fronts and the size of the wildfires. No serious injuries or deaths have been reported, although damage assessments are in the early stages. A heat wave is expected to result in increasing temperatures over the next several days, increasing fire risk.

In another bit of positive news, the island’s forest of unique evergreen trees, known as Mastic Trees, appears to have not suffered serious damage, according to media reports. The tree produces a delicious golden resin called mastiha that has been used in cooking, medicine, liquor, and even as chewing gum since ancient times. More than half of the population of these shrubby trees, which are only found on Chios, were destroyed by fire in 2012.