Raging Forest fire burns Athens forest
Pastor Dale Morgan
Raging Forest fire burns Athens forest*
Reuters
Wednesday, June 25, 2008; 12:55 PM
ATHENS (Reuters) - Fire swept through a forest outside Athens on
Wednesday, causing power cuts that trapped dozens of people in elevators
officials said.
At least 45 fire engines, more than 200 firefighters, three helicopters
and nine planes battled the blaze, which destroyed about 20,000 square
meters (215,300 sq ft) of pine forest about 20 km (12 miles) southeast
of the Greek capital.
Rescue services were called in to extricate dozens of people from
elevators after power lines near the blaze were automatically shut down.
Coastal suburbs had no power for several hours and supplies to central
Athens were also affected.
Last year, Greece suffered some of the worst forest fires in memory,
caused by record high temperatures, drought and arson.
At least 65 people were killed in a 10-day inferno that swept through
villages in southern Greece, devastating the local economy.
(Reporting by George Atsidakos, additional reporting by Tatiana Fargo
and Renee Maltese; editing by Andrew Dobie)