http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_26/08/2011_403664
Also a general coverage here,
http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2011/08/26/1683567/large-forest-fires-rage-in-greece.html
This is a Zante newspaper report, but in Greek,
http://www.imerazante.gr/2011/08/25/30512
Hi Athensfan - when we were in Zante a couple of weeks ago, we spent some time in the mountains on our quad bikes. It was beautiful, although there were a couple of scorched areas. Hopefully these are small fires, which won't detract too much from the beauty of the landscape.
forest fires aren't even really news until they get to a certain size,woke up one day in 2008 to darkness in the daytime due to half the island(rhodes) being on fire,tourists getting evacuated by greek naval patrol boats,firefighting planes being sent from all over europe,loads of us english workers joining in on fire patrols and beating parties,now THAT was news
there were fires in the mountains close to the airport on thursday 25/8 and helicopters and planes flying close to it , we thought they might have been water carriers and possibly news reporters , very thick smoke
Please don't get concerned, the smaller ones are usually dealt with pretty quickly (even though it may seem it is a big fire) & it's rare for anyone to be in danger in these cases. The main enemy of the firefighters is high winds, especially if the fire is sread over a large area, then it is very difficult to contain or get under control.
As for damage & spoiling the beauty of an area, yes they do, but often not for long, depending on the type of vegetation destroyed. Even much of the massive areas (four or more x the size of Zante?) that burnt in the major fires on the Peloponnese & nearly destroyed Olympia in 2007 is green again & showing regrowth. Many trees, homes, & therefore livelihoods, were lost & will take years to fully recover, but overall it's not easy to now spot much of the area that suffered. I travel through it regularly, the first time was a month after the fires, I was amazed how large an area it was (took over an hour driving through one part of it), but now there is little evidence that it ever happened in parts. Very sad to see initially (yes, I got quite emotional!), but mother nature is a strong survivor!
The longest lasting damage (apart from loss of olive trees etc which take years to replce at the same production levels) is the erosion danger with heavy winter rainfall.
there are always little fires in the mountains every time we have visited, this year we didnt spot any, a couple of years ago 1 could be seen for miles, it was pretty big
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