“I don’t remember, I had drunk a lot of tsipouro,” claimed the 27-year-old accused of arson in Sychaina.
“I don’t remember anything, I had drunk a lot of tsipouro,” said the 27-year-old accused of setting fires in Sychaina, Patras, denying any involvement in the acts attributed to him.

According to SKAI, he claimed he had no connection to the fires and that, due to excessive alcohol consumption, he had memory gaps.

In contrast, the 19-year-old arrested with him confessed to his involvement. According to his statement, on the night of the fire he was in a square with friends, drinking beers and using cannabis, when they decided to start a fire. “I set the fire with a lighter,” he allegedly said, according to SKAI.

The two young men are charged with arson on forest and non-forest land, in series, repeatedly, and as co-perpetrators. They have been given time to prepare their depositions. From witness statements and photographs in the authorities’ possession, it appears the 19-year-old was driving the motorcycle captured by local residents, with the 27-year-old as the passenger.

Investigations into Fires in Western Greece

The Arson Crimes Unit has gathered significant material from witness testimonies, photographs, and videos regarding multiple arson incidents in Western Greece and Chios.

In Paliampela and Vato, Vonitsa, three fires broke out within an hour early Tuesday morning, in inaccessible locations. Authorities have testimonies pointing to two suspects.

For the fire in Flampoura, Preveza, statements and photographs point to a man riding a blue motorcycle; his identification is being investigated, as he was seen at the ignition point.

In Zakynthos, in the area of Koiliomenos, evidence points to a 59-year-old who had also been arrested last year for arson in the same area.

Similarly, in Gymnotopos, Preveza, statements, photos, and videos show a PPC (DEDDIE) power pole sparking and igniting a forested area. A similar finding is being examined for the first fire in Achaia, between Isoma and Vasiliko, where photographic evidence shows high-voltage cables coming into contact with tree branches, producing sparks. Experts have been appointed to investigate.

On Chios, authorities are investigating whether the fire was caused by high-voltage power pylons near wind turbines, assessing the collected evidence.

The Crucial Role of Local Residents – “The driver was laughing”

The two arrested in the Sychaina case were spotted acting suspiciously by a resident of Voudeni, who photographed them.
“They must have been 19–20 years old and stopped here. I saw them, and when they left, the first fire had started. We took the courage to go find them. I asked the passenger to open his bag, and I found nothing inside except something that looked like a scarf. The police told me it was probably a rag soaked in flammable liquid,” the resident told SKAI.

Residents found a bottle of gasoline near the ignition point:
“When I asked him what he had left 20 meters away — where there was a small bottle — he told me, ‘I didn’t leave anything.’ When they left, I found it and gave it to the police.”

“The driver was laughing, and the passenger was trying to tell me it wasn’t like that, that they had just come to hang out and watch the fire,” the resident said.