Deadly fires in Greece

89 new fires in Greece, death toll at 63

Published: Aug. 27, 2007 at 7:20 AM
ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Greek fire officials said 89 new suspicious wildfires had been reported in the country Monday morning as the death toll from four days of burning rose to 63.

Many of the fires were extinguished quickly, although troublesome fires were burning in central and southern Evia, a large island near central Greece's eastern coast, Kathimerini reported. Fires were also reported on islands in the Ionian Sea and central Greece, the report said.

Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis declared a national state of emergency, saying he felt "pain" and "outrage" over the death and destruction.

"So many fires, at the same time, in so many parts of the country, cannot be a coincidence," he said. "The state, with the help of all, shall do what is necessary so as to find the guilty individuals and punish them."

A fire brigade spokesman told reporters seven people were being held on suspicion of arson, the Athens News Agency reported.

There has been widespread speculation the spate fires of fires that started Thursday were designed to disrupt coming elections.



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Fires plunge Greece into mourning

26/08/2007

ATHENS, Greece -- Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis declared a nationwide state of emergency on Saturday (August 25th) as wildfires pushed by strong winds burned thousands of acres of forest and brush, engulfed homes and villages, and killed at least 46 people. Dozens have been hospitalised with burns and smoke inhalation. Fifteen villages in the Peleponnese were evacuated. A three-day period of mourning has been declared.

Some 9,000 fire fighters, 1,000 soldiers, 1,800 fire engines, as well as planes and helicopters, are battling the fires. France has said it will send two fire fighting planes, and 12 other planes and 11 helicopters are expected from other countries. They will be deployed to fight the approximately 100 fires that were burning as of Sunday.

Authorities suspect arson may have played a role in the disaster. The prime minister, saying that so many fires starting at the same time could not be a mere coincidence, has vowed that those responsible will be brought to justice. Police have reported the arrest of a 65-year-old man who will be charged in the deaths of six people in Areopolis, in the southern Peloponnese. Two teenagers have also been detained for arson in Kavala, northern Greece.

Meanwhile, the election campaign in Greece has come to a halt. In an official letter addressed to President Karolos Papoulias and political parties, Greek ecological organisations called for the vote to be delayed by three months. George Papandreou, leader of the opposition PASOK party, urged the president to convene an urgent meeting of all political leaders in the country. (Sky radio, Naftemporiki, Kathimerini, Mega TV, Antena TV, AFP, AP, Reuters, CNN - 26/08/07)
Bosnian court jails Serb for war crimes




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The skies above Athens turned red with smoke for hours, and ashes fell in the centre of the capital as wind drove the flames across the parched landscape.

The fires were so severe that authorities said they could not yet provide an estimate of how much damage they had caused, nor what expanse of land had been burnt.

The deadliest fire was in the western Peloponnese near the town of Zaharo. It cost more than 30 lives, including those of a mother and her four children.


Throughout the night and into yesterday, desperate residents and local mayors trapped by fires in remote villages called television and radio stations to appeal for help from overstretched firefighters. It was unclear how many people remained trapped in remote villages on Saturday afternoon.

A fire on the island of Evia north of Athens grew overnight, and several villages were being evacuated, Diamandis said. Media reported one person had been killed in Evia, although the fire department could not immediately confirm the report.

OMG!! This is so awful!!! And that picture...omg!!! *starts praying hard for rain*

A view from our roof....

I have been Praying for everyone, and Praying for rain to help the firefighters.

ATHENS (AFP) - Greek authorities on Sunday offered up to a million euros for help catching arsonists blamed for starting some of the fires that have been devastating the country, threatening historic sites and killing at least 63.


The death toll climbed on Sunday evening with the discovery of four more bodies in the southwestern Peloponnese, a health ministry official said. Most of the deaths had occurred in the western Peloponnese.

The public order ministry announced rewards of between 100,000 and a million euros (136,000 and 1.36 million dollars) for any information leading to the arrest of those behind the forest fires started "from July 1 to date."

The amount paid would be linked to the number of victims the fire had claimed and how extensive it had been, the ministry statement added.

The latest wave of forest fires has been raging for three days now.

"We are dealing with a national catastrophe without precedent," said firefighters' spokesman Nikolaos Diamantis Sunday, as the national state of emergency declared by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis continued.

The disaster already ranks among the world's deadliest forest fires of the past 150 years, and the nation has been observing three days of national mourning since Saturday.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, in a message to the nation on Saturday, had blamed arsonists.

Since Friday, police have arrested 10 people suspected either of starting fires deliberately or simply through negligence, including a 65-year-old man and an elderly woman.

Earlier Sunday, the local police had feared that fires might engulf Olympia, listed as a world heritage site by UNESCO.

Houses had burnt in the village of Olympia just next to the site and the Olympia museum and nearby villages had already been evacuated.

But later Sunday the site appeared to be safe.

"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.

Olympia, in the Peloponnese peninsula, has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and in the 10th century BC became a centre for the worship of Zeus.

Another ancient site remained under threat Sunday night, however.

Fire moved toward The Temple of Apollo at Bassae, which dates to the 5th century BC and is also a UNESCO site, in the Arcadian mountains.

Firefighters announced more deaths on the Aegean island of Euboea. They said five people including two volunteer firefighters had died.

All five perished in the central Mystro region near Eretria on the island's southern coast, where another two people were injured. Fresh fires had broken out Sunday afternoon on the centre of the island, burning woodlands and village homes.

Firefighters on Euboea had since Saturday been fighting blazes on the south of the island that had destroyed pine forests and olive groves.

Emergency services had so far evacuated a total of 40 villages on Euboea and the Peloponnese peninsula, said a fire services spokesman earlier Sunday.

Those fleeing the flames had sought refuge on beaches where the authorities provided tents. Financial aid and new lodgings had also been promised.

More than 1,000 Greek firemen backed by 425 soldiers and 16 water-dropping aircraft have been battling the fires which have swept through thousands of hectares (acres), destroying homes and ravaging crops and olive groves.

"It's chaos. Generations of work have gone up in smoke," said Vassilis Viglas, 65, who had returned to the now-devastated village of Artemida for the summer.

But the promised international aid was beginning to arrive.

Six water-bombing Canadair planes, four from France and two from Italy, had arrived Sunday. France also sent 60 of its own firefighters and six firefighting vehicles.

Expected in the next few hours were seven more planes -- four from Serbia, two from Spain and one from Romania -- and 11 helicopters: three each from Germay, Israel and the Netherlands, and the other two from Norway and Slovenia.

Austria also announced its army would be sending a Hercules C-130 military transport plane, two Augusta Bell 212 firefighting helicopters and 20 soldiers.

Greece was also in talks with the United States and Russia about how they might help, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said.

Here are some pics

Agapi, You amaze me with what you found! Don't these pics just tell a story? Look at the sky above the Acropolis....Look at the lower clouds, remember the pics I took at 5:30 a.m. the other day....a bit like that, weren't they?

It is so sad. The pic I took above, just double the length of the red now....I didn't need to run to the roof to take the pics, we can see this of our balcony...and from our rooms. I really should put on ERT, but I don't want to....I am too down about this to watch it and then get more upset about it. I think we should stone the guys who started these! I start to like the OT laws of eye for an eye, because people died and lost everything they own, their livestock, their homes, their cars, their family members....and health, because smoke inhaliation is really bad....and with the smoke and ash everywhere....we really are lucky to be here in our location. So far, nothing has happened. I mean really, how far is Evia from us? We can smell the smoke coming into our rooms sometimes....remember the other night how strong it was (Early morning)? God made sure you didn't go there this week! My goodness!

5:20 a.m. I took these...or should I say this....

The larger version....

Pray for the fires in Spain as well. They have evacuated towns and are fighting winds that are fanning the fires.