Stamata: arrest over barbecue next to a forest

A 33-year-old man was arrested in Stamata, in the Municipality of Dionysos, for lighting a portable charcoal barbecue at a spot near forest vegetation, around 20:30 on the night of Tuesday, 11 August. The barbecue had been set up in the yard of a detached house, within a mixed zone of homes and forest ecosystem in the northern suburbs, in an area that has been repeatedly hit by wildfires in recent decades.

Summary proceedings were launched and he was fined an administrative penalty of 3,000 euros. The presumption of innocence applies until the case is heard. The amount of the fine is set by the revised fire-protection legislation and is imposed regardless of whether a fire actually broke out. The aim of the regulation is deterrence, since the majority of summer fires start from human activity rather than natural causes.

Speaking to ERT on the morning of Wednesday, 12 August, the Fire Service’s deputy spokesman, Deputy Fire Chief Giannis Artopoios, said that 281 arrests for fires have been made this year in total, with 90% concerning cases of negligence rather than intent. This percentage, he stressed, shows that prevention depends mainly on citizens’ behaviour and not solely on enforcement.

He also reminded the public that under risk index category 4, hot work and the use of fire are banned within forest ecosystems or within 300 metres of them. In practice, this rule covers most of the settlements at the foot of Penteli and Parnitha, where development reaches right up to the forest boundary.

On Wednesday, 12 August, Attica was under orange alert, with a risk index of 4, along with Fokida, Fthiotida, Evia, Skyros, the whole of the North and South Aegean, and parts of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace. Fire-protection legislation has been significantly tightened in recent years, both in terms of fines and the scope of banned activities.

Checks by the Arson Crimes Investigation Directorate are ongoing, especially on days with strong winds. Regarding the Kouvaras fire, the deputy fire chief said a link to the electricity transmission network is being examined and that an investigation has been ordered, stressing that there is no finding yet: “All evidence is being investigated,” he said.

Barbecues in unsuitable locations remain among the most common causes of arrests in Attica during the fire-protection season, along with grinding work and the burning of agricultural waste, which is banned throughout the fire-protection period. Recent examples include the three arrests in Rafina, Ilion and Nea Kifisia and the fines in Markopoulo and Spata.