Perilous
Times
Large forest fires rage in Greece
By COSTAS KANTOURIS, Associated Press; NICHOLAS PAPHITIS,
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Strong winds spread large fires through thousands
of hectares (acres) of forest in Greece Friday, despite a large
firefighting operation with water-dropping aircraft from other
European countries.
Authorities said no injuries or major damage to property were
reported from about a dozen major blazes reaching from the
northeastern border region of Evros to the southern island of
Crete.
A man was convicted of arson through negligence regarding the
Evros fire.
Two villages in western and southern Greece were evacuated as a
precaution, while flames swept through the ruins of ancient
Kalydon in the west, charring trees and blackening some stone
walls. The culture ministry said the antiquities suffered no
structural damage and would soon be cleaned.
Greece suffers from wildfires every summer, and 76 people died in
a spate of blazes in 2007.
But this year finds the country in the throes of a major debt
crisis, which has forced extensive state spending cuts over the
past 18 months. The sheer number of fires — more than 150 over the
past two days — and their ferocity forced Athens to request
European Union help with more firefighting aircraft, and two
planes from France joined the operations on Friday afternoon. A
pair of Spanish aircraft was due later in the day.
Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visited the fire brigade's
command center in Athens, accompanied by Public Order Minister
Christos Papoutsis who said the situation was tough but
manageable.
"This is a very difficult day, as is the coming weekend,"
Papoutsis said. "The winds are strong and constantly shifting in
direction, and unfortunately hamper the fire brigade's efforts.
Nevertheless, with constant efforts ... it seems that we will be
able to control things."
The largest wildfire was in the Evros area near the Turkish
border, which was burning for a third day after destroying 4,500
hectares (11,000 acres) of forest. Smaller blazes that broke out
in the heavily militarized area Friday threatened an army
ammunition dump before being brought under control.
Vangelis Lambakis, the mayor of the nearby town of
Alexandroupolis, said the environmental damage was "incalculable."
A local farmer was convicted Friday of accidentally starting the
fire with sparks spewing from his tractor's faulty exhaust pipe.
"The tractor was sowing flames," fire brigade chief Stelios
Stefanidis said.
The man was jailed for five years and fined €20,000, but walked
free pending a hearing of his appeal.
Other forest fires were burning on Friday in western parts of the
country, the resort island of Zakynthos, and Arcadia in the
southern Peloponnese area — which was ravaged by the deadly blazes
in 2007 that laid waste about 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres) of
forest.
Firefighters managed to contain fires on Crete, the fringes of
Greece's second city of Thessaloniki in the north, as well as a
big blaze that threatened homes on the southern outskirts of
Athens.
A local fire chief was killed in a blaze on Monday, and the
situation deteriorated mid-week as gale-force winds blew over
areas desiccated by months of summer heat.
Wildfires also burned through neighboring Albania on Friday, where
water-dropping aircraft from Italy and Turkey were assisting
firefighters battle hundreds of fires. Some 6,000 hectares (15,000
acres) have been burned so far.
Albania has no firefighting planes of its own.
___
Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed.