The web-based GIS platform presented – called Virtual Fire – is designed to support wildfire early warning, control and civil protection by sharing information and tools. Its prototype is currently applied for Lesvos Island, North Aegean, Greece, but its open-ended system architecture enables its expansion to broader areas. The island of Lesvos (with 90,000 residents) is located at the northeastern Aegean Sea of Greece and covers an area of 1636 km2 with a variety of geological formations, climatic conditions and vegetation types (Fig. 1). The climate is typical Mediterranean, with warm and dry summers and mild and moderately rainy winters. The soils of Lesvos are widely cultivated, mainly with rain-fed crops such as olive trees on the central, south and east parts of the island. These lands face frequent and low-intensity fire events due to their cultivation and land-cleaning practices. On the west part, animal breeding combined with extensive grazing is the main land use activity, playing a key role in soil formation and vegetation composition. Due to their low productivity, many sites were abandoned 40–50 years ago. After their abandonment, these areas are grazed and the emerging shrublands are often cleared by illegal burning to improve forage production (Henderson et al., 2005). The vegetation of Lesvos Island, defined on the basis of the dominant species, includes phrygana or garrigue-type shrubs in grasslands; evergreen-sclerophylous or maquis-type shrubs; pine forests; deciduous oaks; olive tree groves; and other agricultural lands. Lesvos is considered a high fire-prone and fire-risk area of Greece. According to the records of the local Fire Department and Forest Service, more than 600 wildfires, mostly human-caused, were ignited during the last 40 years (1970–2009) resulting in over 9000 ha of total burned area in Lesvos Island.