A 61-year-old orthopedic physician and his 50-year-old wife were arrested by police on Monday on charges of withholding information related to several fires that erupted in the vicinity of Nea Makri, a coastal township in east Attica prefecture.
Additionally, an arrest warrant was issued for the woman’s 17-year-old son on felony charges of actually causing the blazes. He remains at large.
The fire brigade’s arson unit charges that the pair knew of the teenager’s actions. He is believed to have started at least eight outdoor fires over the past summer, with the intent of causing a wildfire.
The once pine-covered country-home settlement of Mati, just south of Nea Makri, which also lies within the extended municipality of Marathon, was obliterated by a wildfire in July 2018. The conflagration claimed the lives of 102 people and caused the serious injury of dozens more. A destructive and multi-front wildfire erupted last month in northeast Attica prefecture and burned a large swathe of land extending from the village of Varnavas to some of north Athens’ leafy northern districts in the foothills of Mt. Penteli.
Authorities went so far as to assert that the physician knew exactly when the fires would start and where, duly parking his car at another location out of harm’s way.
Both adults have denied the charges and said they were asleep when the fires erupted.
