In August this year, vast parts of Greece were ablaze; wildfires swept the country as they did the year before, and most likely will again next year. With Greece experiencing its hottest summer ever, thousands braved soaring temperatures to tackle the blaze that threatened Athens. The fires killed one person and could have killed many, many more. Firefighters tackling the flames were a mix of full-time, part-time, seasonal volunteers, and teams from abroad. But there were also anarchists.

The latter were members of a group called Rouvikonas, a collective based in the Greek capital who are hoping to show that anarchists might not be the “terrorists” many in the country see them as.

With hundreds of members, Rouvikonas emerged in Greece during the financial crisis that crippled the economy from late 2009. The group’s name originates from the phrase “crossing the Rubicon”, looking at themselves as performing an action without return. Previously, members have been arrested for participating in what they describe as activism against the state. In February 2018, 30 apparent members of Rouvikonas stormed the Athens offices of an international pharmaceutical company. In July 2019, they were heavily condemned for attacking a newspaper office in Athens. Critics accuse them of acting as an unruly vigilante group.

But in recent years, Rouvikonas claim to have stepped in to fill gaps left by austerity, previously organising refugee food banks and cleaning the streets. As the political divide across Europe becomes increasingly polarised, those on the far left – fighting the rise of the far right – are being forced to reckon with an image issue: trying to persuade those in the centre that they are not anarchists merely looking to “destroy the system”.

The Rouvikonas volunteer firefighting team is trying to do just that – one blaze at a time.

Filling a gap

I arranged to meet two members in the Exarcheia neighbourhood of Athens. Just a 40-minute walk from the Acropolis, the district is famous for riots and radical politics. Arriving in the area, I pass two police riot vans within three minutes of each other, and a group of American tourists taking selfies with political murals. In the past, Greece’s conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has promised to “bring order” to Exarcheia. There are protests against a new metro station planned for the area; many see it as an attempt to gentrify the suburb and to clean up the streets and the people found on them.

At the heart of Rouvikonas is K*VOX, a bar and social space known as a meeting point for anarchists where lively discussions are had on politics, protests and now, firefighting. I am greeted by loud music, a smile and a welcome from behind the bar and shown to a dimly lit corner for our interview.

“Let’s focus on the firefighting; we are not just your usual anarchist team,” Mark, a 49-year-old who works in finance, tells me as I sit, surrounded by political posters, books and graffiti that adorn the walls of the smoke-filled room. Mark translates for me while car mechanic and fellow firefighter Akis, also 49, explains the role and structure of Rouvikonas as he lights up cigarettes.

“Not everyone in the team is a member of Rouvikonas, but every single one wants to help their country because they see the state is doing nothing and, if anything, actually adding to the fires,” Mark says as he pours a glass of beer. He adds proudly that the firefighter team is currently split into about 60 per cent men and 40 per cent women. “We are here because we saw a gap, not only because the state created it, but because we wanted to do something ourselves.”

The self-funded volunteer team was formed in 2022 when three friends with previous experience in the fire service watched scenes of devastation on TV. “We decided there and then that we needed to do something. We want to help the firefighters, our neighbours. And then this became an idea and this idea was fertilised and created with Rouvikonas and what we have today,” Akis proclaims.

Joining forces

Greece, a country on the frontline of the climate crisis, relies heavily on seasonal firefighters; 2,500 were hired before the summer of 2024. Many say the firefighters are poorly treated by the government, with thousands on short-term contracts.

In 2021, pictures spread around the world of Athens police clashing with protesting firefighters. In ironic scenes, water cannons were fired on the uniformed protestors who were demanding better contracts and equipment. “People talk about climate change, and we know from science that it’s happening. That means we need better resources to deal with its effects,” Alexandros Farandakis, head of the contract workers’ firefighting association, said at the time.

Greenpeace previously hit out at the Greek government, claiming it has failed to take adequate action to address the climate crisis. Mark echoes this sentiment: “Our fire service lacks the funding. They hire seasonal personnel for three or four months. How can you be a firefighter just for summer? How can they be properly ready for these huge fires?”

In one fire this summer, reports claimed that just 680 firefighters were sent to tackle a 15km firefront in a forest near Athens. “Can you imagine that? 15km of fire with only 680 firefighters – that’s why we are needed. That’s why you are talking to us today,” says Mark, adding: “We say that every fire in Greece has a name, the name of those responsible, the name of the minister who didn’t employ enough firefighters, the name of a local government official who didn’t do their job, like clearing the bushes or forest floor, or even those who let the pylons rot, explode and start fires.”

In the run-up to Greece’s two parliamentary elections last year less than 0.5 per cent of pre-election speeches of all the political leaders contained the terms “environment” or “climate change”. The government has been accused of scapegoating migrants for devastating fires and ignoring its responsibilities.

Akis says the main cause of fires he sees on the ground are old electric pylons that collapse and ignite dry ground. Investigations are underway into the cause of August’s fire that damaged much of northeastern Attica. It broke out in Varnavas, and at the time some suggested that a faulty power cable may have sparked the blaze about 35 kilometers from the capital. A fire brigade official, who spoke to Reuters anonymously, said the area near this electricity pole was likely the fire’s point of origin. The Greek government said that 702 firefighters, 17 aircraft, and 18 helicopters were deployed during the fires. Several European countries also sent reinforcements to help. Akis, Mark, and the rest of the 25-strong team were also on the ground.

Describing how they work, they say members, ranging from the ages of 20 to 55, will make contact with firefighters at the scene and go from there, sometimes getting to spots where the fire service isn’t focusing attention. They currently have two trucks, each with its own leader, and at the scene of fires, they will often focus on stopping the spread to nearby homes or businesses. 

As Mark points out, firefighting isn’t only about fires: “It’s saving animals. It’s making sure people are safe”. The pair say they have also previously helped when floods have hit the region in the winter months.

When asked what official firefighters would say about the team if they were sitting opposite them, Akis says they respect each other: “They have seen how we operate, and we are capable; we are not amateurs. They have seen what we can do.” He adds that the group previously provided water to the fire service when they ran out.

They communicate in a group on WhatsApp and work in shifts. When there is a large fire, a general alert is sent out, and they are split into teams, some remaining at home to communicate with others at the scene.

Mark says: “What you need to understand is that everyone involved in the group is a volunteer firefighter; they have jobs, they have everyday problems, they have private lives. They get tired, and they get sick. So on top of that, they spend hours and hours with the trucks in the mountains helping.”

“There have been villages, not just houses, that were saved because we were there,” he adds.

An image problem

The team trains together in the mountains on weekends during the winter. They currently have two fire trucks; pick-ups have been modified to carry 700-litre water tanks, hoses, and fire extinguishers. They are actively fundraising to buy more trucks on GoFundMe.

The pair say driving is one of the most complex parts of training, learning to manoeuvre a truck with a considerable amount of added weight. They practice scenarios, and every member must learn to drive modified vehicles. Akis and Mark stress that at a scene of fires, they don’t risk the lives of any volunteers and only take on what they see as safe jobs. The engines on the trucks are always left running to make a quick getaway if needed. Mark adds: “We would never send someone we don’t feel comfortable with to a fire, but after time in training, it is amazing; they act like experienced firefighters. They go from zero experience to saving lives.”

It is fair to say Rouvikonas has struggled with a reputation problem in the past, with some residents more likely to expect to see them holding a Molotov cocktail than a fire hose. Many even see them as a terrorist group.

Asked how members of the public feel when they find out that anarchists have arrived to help them, Mark says they are welcoming. “There are villages that we helped out that if we went to right now, they would open doors for us. You can’t say they would’ve done that before.”

The image problem of the Left is a longstanding issue in Greece. Many outside the movement see activists as troublemakers looking to create problems. Though this is not why they volunteer to fight fires, Mark and Akis say they believe they are making a difference and changing people’s minds. Mark adds: “Greek society is not an anarchist society; you need to see this in context, so when they see our vehicle and ask where we are from, the people are amazed.”

On slowly changing the public’s view, they say: “We are not going to houses and telling people about our politics. That’s not why we do this. We help them and then after they talk to us and find out what we are. They are very happy and surprised that we are not what the media sells us as: the guys in black who create trouble.”

The Left in crisis

Greece has seen the rise of the far right in recent years. Golden Dawn, a party described as neo-Nazi, was the third most popular party in the Greek parliament in the January 2015 election. Support dropped rapidly after several leaders were involved in criminal trials and a court ruled that Golden Dawn was a criminal organisation under the guise of a democratically elected party. It failed to enter parliament in the 2019 election, but from its ashes rose other parties. Greek Solution, an ultranationalist far-right party created in 2016, gained traction in June 2024’s European Parliament elections.

In the 2023 parliamentary election, Greece’s conservative New Democracy party won with a landslide of just over 40 per cent of the votes, but it was Mitsotakis’s main rivals, the left-wing Syriza party, that made many headlines for suffering a massive defeat with just under 18 per cent.

The election meant some in Greece feared for the future of the Left. MeRA25, the party of former Syriza Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to gain enough votes to qualify for even one seat in parliament and Pasok, or the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, has yet to make a potential comeback despite an increase in votes. In short, the Left is struggling.

“In a case of need, it is not the far right that will be there; Golden Dawn and others don’t care; they are serving other purposes,” says Mark. “When your house is on fire, you don’t care about politics – but you can bet it won’t be the far right that are there to help you. We think people are learning that.”

The motto of Rouvikonas translates in English as “All we have is each other”, a phrase repeated throughout our interview.

Mark is hopeful, adding that the 130 people who applied to be firefighters with the team are proof that news is spreading. “If you don’t get up from the couch to go out and meet the people who you are being told are three-headed monsters, nothing will change. They are seeing us, and we are seeing them.”

Akis points to one fire where an elderly woman thought she had to pay the team after they helped with a cleanup. “She couldn’t understand why we were doing this for free.”

The image problem of the Left is a longstanding issue in Greece. Many outside the movement see activists as troublemakers looking to create problems.

Overcoming hostility

Greece has a history of anarchy dating back to ancient times. Some have even argued that Socrates was an anarchist questioning the state and powers that be. Anarchists were at the centre of the student uprisings that helped bring down Greece’s dictatorship in the mid-1970s. Since then, anarchist groups have occupied universities and buildings, many in Exarcheia.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has been accused of singling out anarchist groups when discussing law and order in Athens. His government promised to impose longer prison sentences on convicted militants and tasked a minister for citizen protection to disband the groups. Meanwhile, under his leadership, Greece has dropped down in press freedom rankings to the lowest in the European Union. A 2022 surveillance scandal sent shockwaves across Europe when spyware targeted dozens of prominent individuals and government critics. Earlier this year, a two-year investigation cleared Greece’s National Intelligence Service of involvement.

Mark says they are used to being described as terrorists: “There is a shift but we can only do what we do, we want to help people. We are just trying to help the country we live in; this is not terrorism.”

With the climate crisis intensifying and the number of wildfires reaching 9101 in Greece this year alone (up from 7,163 last year), Mark and Akis say they need the team to keep growing. They say a dream situation for next summer would be having one more fire truck – and at least another 90 volunteers.

But they don’t want to stop there. They hope to branch out across Greece, to the countryside where fires strike regularly. “More and more people are supporting us every year, and we are inspiring them. Unfortunately, they are learning to trust us the rough way, through fire. But that’s why we are showing solidarity and spreading the word.”

“We want people to know people are to blame for this – the devastation. This isn’t caused by God; we want to show a 360 [-degree] view of what’s happening while helping people in need.”

“All we have is each other”.