Fire fronts updates

[Hellenika]

Saturday, August 25, 2007

ATHENS, Greece — Police on Saturday arrested and charged a man with arson and multiple counts of homicide in a deadly fire in southern Greece that left six people dead, the fire department said.

The 65-year-old man was arrested in connection with the fire in the southern Peloponnese town of Areopolis, department spokesman Nikos Diamandis said, where five people were burned to death on Friday and one firefighter died of a heart attack while battling the flames. The blaze is one of dozens that are burning across Greece and have killed a total of at least 46 people in the past two days.

THe arrest followed the prime minister's declaration of a nationwide state of emergency.

"All regions of the country are declared in a state of emergency ... to stop this evil and to start repairing the destruction as soon as possible," Costas Karamanlis said in a televised address to the nation.

Since Friday morning, more than 170 blazes have swept across the country, with the most devastating in the Peloponnese to the south. New fires broke out Saturday, and fears grew that the death toll could increase as rescue crews reached villages that had been cut off by walls of flames.

The skies above Athens turned red with smoke, and ashes fell in the center 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 burned.

News reports put the death toll at 50, although authorities could not immediately confirm the higher number.

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.

"The country is in a state of emergency. I call on all citizens to assist in the collective fight, which must be won for the good of the country," Karamanlis said in his address. "I feel deep pain for the mother who perished in the flames with her arms round her children."

Throughout the night and into Saturday, 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.

[Prokomenos]

What a shame that people do such things..

[Hellenika]

I wonder the nationality. Probably Greek, but with all the different races all over Greece, who knows. Whoever it is should be executed.

[Ellinas]

What's going on this moment can't be explained with words. The dead are 51 so far and the number is growing. Hundreds of fires are on progress all over Greece, especially in the South. Thousands of people lost their homes and properties their homes to save their life, tens if not hundreds of villages are completely destroyed. This the biggest destruction Greece ever experienced, after WW2. Whole areas in Peloponnesus are going decades back . In the morning I just came back to Athens from vacation. I live in the West suburbs but from the top of the building I could see the smokes of the Hymmetus fire - because of this and the other fires of Attica (many of them are still burning) the day the whole sky was red and ashes were falling from the sky. Hell, no more words. The distress and anger is so big right now, that I can't comment on anything else (political responsibilities, who is behind the fires etc.) This is going to be one more terrible night, the planes can't fly anymore as night fell - the soldiers do whatever they can but it is very difficult for them if the fire department can't operate - as the situation became our only hope can be that God will help, nothing else.

[Hellenika]

I was reading another story yesterday where it said that entire villages are surrounded by the fires and that there is no way for the people to get out. It is very upsetting to think of all those poor people trapped and no one can get in to help them. It really does sound like hell on earth over there.

My mother was watching it on the Greek news and her descriptions were far worse than I have been reading. She said it also looks like the helicopters were getting too close to the fires and there was so much smoke thats its amazing they haven't crashed. A horrible thing, and even more disturbing that this was deliberate.

[Ellinas]

For the ones abroad, an outline of the situation can be found here:
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[Prokomenos]

Poly asximo pragma. Theos dinatos na elpizo na min pethanoune kai alloi.

[Ellinas]

3rd day of the carnage and the fires are still burning. The dead are 52 now and let's hope that the number will not grow more.

The bigger fires currently on progress are in Elia (it burned everything in the South and now it's moving North, it just reached ancient Olympia), Messenia (the fires are getting closer and closer to Kalamata), Corinthia, Arkadia (close to Megalopoli and Tegea), Euboea (the situation at Styra gets under control, but it gets worse in Aliveri). The fires at Aetolia & Acarnania and Chalkida are under control now.

[Ellinas]

Fires at Elia and Arkadia are growing bigger :(. In Elia there is a fire front covering a big area between Pyrgos and ancient Olympia. All the villages and towns of the area are evacuated.

The situation in Euboea remains the same.

The only good thing (if we can talk about good things right now) is that the fires at Attica and Aetolia-Acarnania are getting under control.


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[Female]

Terrible news...specially if someone did this on purpose....sick people