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Disaster In Greece - Page 2

This is a tragedy but I am surprised by the extent of it. Last year Greece had some tragic bushfires but they don't seem to have learnt much from it. This sounds cold and heartless, and I don't intend it to be. But authorities were pretty slow to act (very Greek) and a lot of the people who died chose to stay back when they might have had the opportunity to flee.

I come from a part of the world that is probably better at dealing with bushfires than most others areas. The footage I saw shocked me. People in singlets using garden hoses to fend of a major fire front? Seriously. There is a major lack of education here.

The Greek government and fire authorities have quite a bit to answer for. If TV cameras can expose such dangerous attempts at fighting a bush fire then the authorities have let their people down big time. I'm genuinely sorry for the people and families who have experienced tragedy here. I have taken basic firefighting safety courses as part of my job and can only imagine the devestation involved. But somebody has to take responsibility and step up awareness and education of this natural disaster. This may be one of the biggest Greek bushfires but by no means the only. This area is obviously prone to it, so please learn from this and avoid such situations in the future.

Before people jump on my back about this, I would like to clarify that NSW, my home state in Australia, has had far worse and much larger bush fires occur in recent years. The difference is people know what to do. Education in such situations is a matter of life and death. I am certain some of our Californian correspondents will back this up.

Greece Disaster

FIREFIGHTERS BRINGING GREEK BLAZES UNDER CONTROL, OFFICIAL SAYS

Cooler temperatures and dwindling winds helped firefighters in Greece calm dozens of massive fires, a firefighting official said Wednesday.
Ref. https://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/200...-wildfires.html

Disaster In Greece History & Civil Business Politics

This guy really improvised! He used his homemade wine to keep his house from lighting up. Good thing he doesnt make hard alcohol or he might have helped set his house ablaze!

https://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28417266.htm

I continue to read about the distinct possibility of arson. I thought this was a initial red hearring from the government, but I have come to find that this is a problem in Greece because of laws and a loophole that allows them to get around certain laws.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml.../wgreece128.xml

There are several stories that hedge on the same thought. Bascially, it seems that the laws prevent development of natural forrest areas in Greece. So what does a would be developer do...hire someone to clear the forrest. Once it is not a forrest, then it can be developed, so goes the anual forrest fires that run through Greece. Normally, the fires are contained relatively quickly and the desired affect (deforrestation) is achieved and there is further development. However, it looks like the conditions were perfect for this fire and it got out of hand. It also appears that there may have been multiple fires set near the same date, which worsened the situation.

The answer is in the article. It really is strange that there is no registry of land ownership in Greece. Having waited this long to do it, I am sure that this will be quite the task to get done now!

Worst part for me...I was planning to go in early October. Hopefully, things will get better over there, so we can go!

Edited: Vincenzo on 31st Aug, 2007 - 5:45am