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Wildfire Threatens Homes Near Thessaloniki as Greece Expands Satellite and Drone Fire Monitoring
A July 5 wildfire in Oreokastro burned businesses and threatened homes outside Thessaloniki. Greece is deploying thermal-imaging satellites and expanding its drone fleet to improve detection and response to its roughly 10,000 annual fires.
Jul 16, 4:21 AM·1m read1 source
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A wildfire threatened homes and burned businesses in Oreokastro on the outskirts of Thessaloniki on July 5, Al Jazeera reported. Greece is using four thermal-imaging satellites orbiting at 550 km to monitor ground temperature and humidity and predict fire locations hours ahead.
The satellites, each smaller than half a metre and roughly briefcase-sized, follow a polar orbit and pass over Greece about twice daily.
The Hellenic Space Center in a northern Athens suburb receives the imagery in a tasking room nine storeys above ground. Officials said the satellites can see through smoke to locate hot spots and map vegetation and elevation to model fire spread. Emmanuel Rammos, president of the Hellenic Space Center, told Al Jazeera the data helps direct helicopters and planes for precise water drops and informs first-morning flights after night-time fires.
Greece also accesses about 20 additional satellites owned by OroraTech and plans to launch seven more multi-spectral satellites this year built by Open Cosmos. The Hellenic Fire Service has increased its drone fleet from 40 two years ago to 105 in 2026. The drones fly at 120 metres and supply live video and thermal imaging to regional and national centres.
Fire brigadier Alexandros Papaioannou told Al Jazeera that drones allow faster evaluation by multiple personnel and have doubled arson-related arrests from 206 in 2023 to 430 in 2024. Fines for arson offences rose from under 300,000 euros in 2022-2023 to 1.5 million euros in 2025. Greece records about 10,000 forest and field fires each year across its 132,000 square kilometres.
Iasonas Aliferis, secretary-general of the Association of Graduate Fire Service Officers, told Al Jazeera the country is shifting from reactive response to prevention and early warning.
