Forest fires kill 41 people in Greece

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: Reuters

Greece's worst forest fires in decades have killed 41 people in the past 24 hours and more are feared dead in villages still cut off by flames sweeping parts of the Peloponnese peninsula, officials said on Saturday.

The fires raged for a second day along new fronts with soaring temperatures and high winds hampering rescue efforts. In some areas firefighting and rescue aircraft were grounded by the winds.
...
A number of villages have been cut off since Friday by the wall of flames, stretching some 80 km (50 miles) from the Ionian Sea on the western coast of the Peloponnese to Mani in the southern-most region of the peninsula.
...
His conservative government has been widely criticised for its slow reaction in dealing with a spate of forest fires during the summer and its popularity has fallen.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L25301245.htm

---

National elections are on the 16th Sept.

[shenmue]

1. This is just awful

I heard about it on the radio this morning. :cry:

[demoleft]

2. "Greek fires threaten ancient city" of Olimpia, BBC

'There are fears for the ancient ruins of Olympia, a world heritage site and home to the Olympic flame, as Greece's devastating forest fires close in.

Water-bombing planes are trying to suppress the flames near the site, and nearby villages have been evacuated.
...
Late on Saturday church bells rang out in the village of Kolyri near Olympia, warning residents to get out as soon as possible.'

BBC, 26 August 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6964345.stm

[demoleft]

3. AFP: Olympia spared by flames. UPDATE.

"Farther south meanwhile, on the Peloponnese peninsula, the flames appeared to have spared the ancient site of Olympia, a UNESCO world heritage site.

The new archaeological museum has been saved and the flames did not enter the site of Ancient Olympia, where all the anti-fire systems functioned," Christos Zahopoulos, secretary general of the culture ministry, told AFP."

AFP, http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/070826174313.gxf4extm.html

[Posteritatis]

4. Fires prompt Greek national alert

Source: BBC News

A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Greece, amid a rising death toll from raging forest fires.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said the country had to "mobilise all means and forces to face this disaster".

Officials say 46 people have died and many others may be trapped on the Peloponnesian peninsula. Police suspect many fires were started deliberately.

. . .

Campaigning for the country's general election has been suspended. Analysts say the vote may have to be postponed.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6963964.stm

---

..Uhh, gah. This looks different from forest fire seasons in most places where the trees just kinda get bored and burn down en masse; it kind of sounds like something widespread and coordinated.

[uppityperson]

5. k&r and arsonisits should be senteced to the highest they can be.

[Posteritatis]

6. More coverage

CNN:

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- Fires in southern Greece that have razed dozens of villages and killed at least 44 people may have been deliberately set ahead of next month's national elections, the prime minister suggested Saturday.


http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/08/25/greece.fires/index.html

[uppityperson]

7. and another

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2156360,00.html
The charred remains of a mother holding her child in her arms; people burned alive in cars as they tried to flee; panic-stricken villagers trapped in flame-encircled homes; and thousands evacuated to beaches - these were among the scenes being witnessed in Greece as some of the worst wildfires in living memory ravaged the country.

With 46 dead yesterday afternoon and the toll expected to climb, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis declared a state of emergency, saying the forest fires 'can't be a coincidence'. He vowed that the arsonists would be found. Within hours police had arrested a suspect....

[Posteritatis]

8. And one more

CBC article this time: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/08/25/greece-fires.html

The coverage is more of the same in that one, but there's a photo of Greece from orbit that shows the extent of the fires. Good lord.

[uppityperson]

9. This is a bit much. Reading about the deaths, oh my.

[youngdem]

10. Here's a better photo. Red dots are fires. At least some of this must be arson.

[Posteritatis]

11. Nope, that's not the same thing

That photo was taken over a month ago, and a lot of those are likely ordinary fires (there's a hot/dry spell in that part of Europe anyway, so it's a tinderbox). Note that there's only two fires in southern Greece in that one, while in the smaller one I showed half the Peloponnese is on fire, as well as big swathes of the rest of the country. The stuff in that bigger picture's chump change compared to that.

As far as I can tell, all the ones that are in the news right now were started pretty much at the same time on Friday or Saturday.

[Dover]

12. I read an article in June that said there was speculation the arsonists might be land developers

and it was a means of freeing up land for development. I was thinking about that possibility before I even got to that remark in the article because Greece (particularly around Athens and the bedroom communities of the Peloponnese) is so densely developed and overcrowded there is alot of pressure to expand and economic incentive for same.

Like many prime real estate areas, expansion of development is held back by preserves of forests and local political resistance. I've wondered if this might also be motivation behind some of the fires in California.

[demoleft]

13. Greek forest fires reward offered - BBC UPDATE 27 August

'A 1m euro (£678,000) reward has been offered to help catch the arsonists suspected of being behind Greek forest fires which have killed at least 60.

New fires continue to break out, with firefighters contending with 63 fresh blazes on Sunday in what officials called an "unprecedented disaster".

The authorities have already arrested several people over the fires.

...

A Greek government statement read: "The reward is set between 100,000 and 1m euros for every of arson, depending on whether death or serious injury occurred and the size of the damage."'

BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6965078.stm

[demoleft]

14. Greek fires may be treated as terrorism

"A Greek prosecutor today ordered an investigation into whether arson attacks, which have been blamed for the worst forest fires in decades, could be considered terrorist acts.
The public order ministry said Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting terrorism and organised crime, ordered the investigation to determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests carried out in the country during the summer of 2007" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law."

The Guardian, 27 August, http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2157076,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

[Eugene]

15. (Monday) Greek villages trapped in fires

Source: Reuters

Greek villages trapped in fires
Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:41AM EDT

By Vassilis Triandafyllou

KRESTENA, Greece (Reuters) - Desperate Greek villages
encircled by flames appealed for help on Monday as strong
winds continued to fan forest fires sweeping through the
country, killing 63 people in three days.

People sought refuge by river banks as towering flames
engulfed homes, farms and forests and firefighters battled
scores of blazes across the country, which has declared a
nationwide emergency.

"The fire is just outside our village. Absolutely nothing
has been done. We are on our own," a desperate resident
of Frixa village in the hardest hit southern Peloponnese
region told Antenna TV.

"A lot of people have gone down to the river. For God's
sake, something must be done so no more people die."

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLAU73886820070827

[Eugene]

16. Helicopters Sent to Save Trapped Greeks

Source: Associated Press

Helicopters Sent to Save Trapped Greeks

Monday August 27, 2007 5:46 PM

By ELENA BECATOROS

Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A helicopter swooped into a village
in southern Greece to rescue residents trapped by flames on
Monday - one of dozens of fires that have torn through village
and forest across the country, leaving blackened landscape in
their wake.

The fires have killed 63 people over four days, destroying
everything in their path. One broke out on the fringe of Athens
Monday, but was quickly brought under control. Another
scorched the woodland around the birthplace of the Olympics.

-snip-

A helicopter airlifted five people to safety on Monday from the
village of Prasidaki in southern Greece, said fire department
spokesman Yiannis Stamoulis. Another was sent to the village
of Frixa.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6878895,00.html