Athens forest fire flares up again
Pastor Dale Morgan
Athens forest fire flares up again
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ATHENS, July 5 (AFP) Jul 05, 2007
A fire on a mountain overlooking Athens that last week destroyed a huge
swathe of forest flared up again on Thursday.
"The fire is burning areas unaffected by the previous blaze, and it is
on terrain that is difficult to access," a fire brigade spokeswoman told
AFP.
More than 200 firemen with 51 engines and 10 aircraft has been
dispatched to deal with the blaze, she said.
The Mount Parnitha fire which raged for four days last week shocked
Greeks as the forest was supposedly among the best protected in the country.
It destroyed at least 4,200 hectares (10,400 acres) of forest, nearly
half of which was national park, the Greek branch of the World Wildlife
Fund (WWF) said.
The fire was one of more than 100 that broke out across Greece last week
following an exceptionally long heatwave that caused 15 deaths.
More than 1,000 protesters marched in Athens on Tuesday to protest what
they called the lack of government action to put out the Mount Parnitha
blaze.
They called for Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras, who is
responsible for the fire brigade, to resign over his efforts to save the
smouldering mountain.
Another demonstration is scheduled for Sunday.
Polydoras on Thursday downplayed the damage, saying that only 2,500
hectares were burnt on the mountain, including 1,000 hectares of park.
"It's not a complete disaster," he told parliament.
Last week, Polydoras admitted that the fire department failed to check
the fire at an earlier stage because water-dropping planes were trying
to avoid dousing power cables in the area.
The government has pledged to reforest the area, but environmentalists
note that such promises have not been kept in the past, pointing out
that widespread illegal construction in burnt-out areas has tended to be
legalised en masse ahead of elections.