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And now, the news from this week.

Wildfires raging all over the country was the main news of this week - and the event that sealed the country’s future for decades to come. Would future generations’ fairy tales start with the phrase “Once upon a time there were forests”?
 

Unprecedented volume of wildfires create a living hell. 

“We are saddened by what is happening in Greece. We hope no one’s life would be at risk. Under these circumstances, we ask to be forgiven for our joy and enthusiasm. With all due respect, we will celebrate this success and contemplate on what’s happening in Greece”: this was what the Greek Water Polo National Team head Yannis Fountoulis stated after they beat Hungary at the semi-finals in Tokyo Olympics. A statement honoring the Olympic spirit and proving that the smoke from all wildfires that are raging in Greece has even managed to cover Tokyo’s skies for the Greeks there.

Greece suffers every year from extended wildfires. But this time, we entered the gates of hell. Blazes breaking out one after another in different areas of the country, villages and even cities being evacuated, terrified people trying to save their land and homes, heroic firefighters - and a thick smoke having covered the country’s otherwise bright skies making it difficult to even breathe.

To get just an idea, a total of 99 new fires broke out Thursday, raising the total number of blazes in progress to 145.

This happened while a predicted prolonged heatwave with 40+ degrees Celcius has struck the country and the winds were as low as two Beaufort. It has been described as the worst heatwave in over three decades.

As of Friday morning, the main blazes in Attika, Evia island, Messinia, Ilia, and Fokida were reported as out of control. Mani and Fthiotida were also described by Civil Protection head Hardalias as significant centers of wildfires during the Friday afternoon briefing.

The first wildfires had broken out early this week in northwest Peloponnese prefecture of Achaia (near Patras) and on Rhodes island. In Achaia, the blaze left behind sixteen people injured, circa 4,220 decares of burned land, and numerous burned houses. Settlements were also evacuated there. The fire in Rhodes left 7,000 decares of land burned.

In Attica, the blaze started on Tuesday in a pine forest at the foot of Mount Parnitha, one of three ranges that surround the Greek capital, sending plumes of dark, acrid smoke over Athens and leaving carcasses of burnt-out houses in its wake. The fire led on Thursday to successive evacuations of whole neighborhoods. In the Attica suburb of Varibombi, 30km northwest of Athens, 95 fires were recorded after the first on Tuesday – 12 of them broke out Thursday. Around a dozen houses have been destroyed in the flames, and dozens of businesses, bars, and holiday accommodation severely damaged in Varibombi, officials said.

Thursday night was critical. The flames had reached the Afidnes (Attika) tollgates on the national highway, entering Ippokrateios Politeia suburb and raising fears the northern Athens areas could be next. The fire was burning on both sides of the highway as of Friday afternoon.

Earlier, citizens from several Attika suburbs (Drosopigi, Kryoneri, Ippokratios Politia, Afidnes, and Kokkinovrachos) had been evacuated. There were also outbreaks in the former royal estate of Tatoi outside Athens.

In Afidnes, the flames reached a flammable materials factory causing strong explosions.

On Friday afternoon, more Attika suburbs were evacuated (Polydenri, Kapandriti, Malakasa, and Sfendali neighborhoods). “The aim is to prohibit the fire from going towards Marathonas Lake,” vice regional governor Kokkalis stated. Unfortunately, the fire passed towards there as well, according to the Friday afternoon briefing.

The fires in Northern Attica were reported on Friday afternoon as having taken “nightmarish dimensions,” as the blazes were reigniting.

As of Friday afternoon, Civil Protection head Hardalias stated there were 56 open wildfires only that day. He said that 450 firefighters with 150 vehicles are operating in Attika.

Two volunteer firefighters were badly injured and were transferred to KAT hospital in Athens where they were intubated in an ICU. Five more citizens were also hospitalized in KAT, with light burns. A 38 or 40-year-old volunteer fire-fighter died after having been severely injured at the head after an accident during the blaze in Ippokrateios Politeia. The doctors were trying to resuscitate him for 70 minutes, unfortunately with no result. A 38-year-old citizen brought later to the hospital, injured from a fire-caused accident, died on Friday afternoon. He was a resident of Ippokrateios Politeia. Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Konstantinos Michalos died of a heart attack reportedly while he was in the Kryoneri area, at his factory that was threatened by the fire.

On Friday evening, new fires broke out in southern Athens touristic Sounio area, in a western neighborhood of Petroupoli, even in a park at the center of Athens (Pedion Areos) while the flames reached even more Attika neighborhoods (Stamata, Agios Stefanos, and Thrakomakedones) and reignited in Varibombi - all these areas being evacuated.

The refugee camp of Amygdaleza (Attika) was also preventatively evacuated.

Attica residents have been informed of rolling power cuts to avoid a blackout.

Similarly nightmarish was the situation on Evia island as the fire front was moving in multiple directions. Reports have identified mainly three directions.

In total 9 aircraft and 240 firefighters were giving a desperate fight in central northern Evia as of Friday afternoon. Numerous villages have been evacuated - nine only on Friday. Northern Evia has been a beautiful, green area, full of pine tree forests. Or at least it was.

“We are experiencing unprecedented moments. The catastrophe is of biblical dimensions as hundreds of houses have been lost as the blazes swept the area. Innumerous fortunes have been lost, and nothing is going to be as before. Now hundreds of forest decares will be missed. When the extent of the catastrophe will be registered, it’s gonna be nightmarish,” Evia vice-regional governor Kelaiditis said in an interview.

On Friday night, the fire reached Evia lake, and people from there were evacuated with ferryboats. Take a glimpse here what this looked like.

The situation was immensely bad also in Peloponnese. Authorities ordered villages near the site of the ancient Olympic Games in the western Peloponnese, that is, Ancient Olympia, to be evacuated on Wednesday. As of Friday afternoon, 310 firefighters were operating in the area to save lives and the sacred place where one of the most famous archaeological museums is. In the Southeastern Peloponnese, Mani area, the situation was deteriorating as of Friday afternoon, with more than ten settlements evacuated and a city, Gytheio. The fire had started on 3 August. Twenty-four people have been hospitalized in Peloponnese, injured or with breathing problems from the fire. Two firefighters have been also hospitalized after their firefighting vehicle turned upside down. Eastern Mani mayor stated on Saturday morning that more than 50% of the municipality has been destroyed with more than 15 settlements (houses, property) burned.

Finally, a fire erupted also near the city of Heraklion, Crete, on Friday, at a field area, which was not threatening houses at the time these lines were written.

International assistance was expected to arrive in Greece after finally, the Greek government called for it. France sent on Thursday night two aircraft and 83 firefighters (they were operating on Parnitha mountain). Similarly, Cyprus sent 40 firefighters and two aircraft. On Friday, three helicopters from Switzerland were expected, along with an aircraft from Croatia, 122 firefighters and 23 vehicles from Romania, two aircraft from Sweden, 100 firefighters from Lithuania, and 16 firefighters from Israel.

In a second urgent briefing on Friday, at night, Hardalias said that three arrests have been made related to the fires and he warned that “this would be a critical night.”

Late Friday night, most fire fronts were still not contained and new fires erupted in areas close to Ioannina, Thessaloniki, and Farsala.

See here a map with the fires in Greece as the satellite was giving it on Friday night.
 

Blame it on climate change (and pretend you have not contributed to it).

When the first wildfires broke out, the Prime Minister was bathing at the beaches of Crete. That was last weekend.

When he finally took a grip of the situation and he visited the Operations Coordination Centre in the Varibombi area on Wednesday morning, he stated: “Thank God we didn’t have victims and the evacuation system has operated excellently.” Of course, saving human lives is always the priority, but in a country like Greece with wildfires erupting every year and especially after the deadly fire in the Mati area in 2018 that claimed the lives of 103 people, there should have been more than that. There should have been a state better organized to contain such phenomena and not leave thousands of acres of forest to become ashes, along with people’s houses and businesses.

And like the statement was not inappropriate enough, the PM added: “The houses will be rebuilt and the forest will grow back in time, however, the difficulties lie ahead as we have some more days of the heatwave.”

However, Athens Observatory Research Head Kostas Lagouvardos emphasized that the scientists had warned of the urgent nature of this heatwave and expressed his sorrow that the government did not take into account the scientists’ warning. Due to the prolonged heatwave, they have proposed for some days of the week to be declared no-work days, “and this request not only was rejected but it was mocked,” the scientist said.

Moreover, Lagouvardos made clear that “when the Varibombi wildfire started, we had mild winds of 2-3 Beauforts, a situation which is not comparable with anything that has happened in the past in other wildfires like at Mati, where we had a firesale.”

At a press conference on Tuesday, however, Hardalias lied directly to people's faces. He stated that in the wildfire area there were temperatures of more than 45 degrees Celsius and low humidity as a result of the heatwave and he talked about winds up to 6 Beauforts, resulting in difficult conditions. The scientist quoted above talking about 2 Beaufort was the one telling the truth - a truth easily verified by the people in those areas at that time.

At the same press conference, Minister of Citizen Protection Chrysochoides tried like the MP to present the state mechanism as operating perfectly alright, stating among others that “the very difficult weather conditions do not find us unprepared. Our plans are adapted to the difficult circumstances climate change brings and the operations everyday function excellently.”

How can one claim the state mechanism functioned perfectly while half the country is burning down?

The PM addressed the people on Thursday night. In short, he admitted the government cannot cope with this crisis - and things are left in fate: “Our priority is the protection of human life. Next is the protection of property, the natural environment, and crucial infrastructure. Unfortunately, under these circumstances, to simultaneously achieve all these is simply not possible.” He promised compensation for citizens who saw their houses destroyed and to farmers - without being specific. He also promised that all burned areas will be declared reforested. Obviously, on the same line, he blamed climate change, saying “we ought to fortify our homeland against climate change reality.” Like climate change is a dragon that attacked us out of the blue.

The government issued an act of legislative content and prohibited movement in parks, forests, and Natura areas until Monday.

In short, the government’s only “plan” was restricted to “prohibit” and “evacuate.” But as the disaster shows, they utterly failed to protect the forest and the houses of the people in the evacuated areas. And this is actually how you make climate change even worse.

Finally, a strange incident happened late Friday night to Saturday morning. A group of people staged a brutal attack against OPEN TV channel crew and its journalist while they were on air covering the fires in an Attika suburb. Attacked journalist Eleftheria Spiraki stated the police were just opposite and did absolutely nothing. OPEN TV is said to have provided maybe the best coverage of the wildfires and being among the few media giving voice to a lot of people affected by the unfolding disaster.
 

No proper fire-fighting mechanism.

When the vice-president of Afidnes said on live TV that “they sent me 1,000 policemen that do nothing. I want firefighters, to save whatever is to be saved from the village,” illustrated the situation as it is. An abundance of policemen in this country and a lack of vital forces for the protection of our nature.

It has been reported that this year, the contracts of 5,000 seasonal firefighters were not renewed and this is even though they contribute significantly to cleaning forests, opening paths, creating anti-fire zones, etc.  But the government had announced in December it would hire 5,200 policemen. Clear priorities.

The Firefighter Federation had requested for 4,000 more hirings in the Fire Brigade, “so that the job is done and we can help the society and the state.” The Fire Brigade has 12,000 fire-fighters on an open-ended contract, 2,500 with a five-year contract, 2,500 seasonal, and 2,500 volunteers.

It had also been reported that another summer season started without the necessary forest cleanings from dry branches etc to have taken place, due to delayed and decreased state funding. The government approved for 2021 only 1.7 million euros for Fire Conservancy while the Forestry Service had asked for 17!

At the same time, half of the fire brigade vehicles (3,500 in total) are 20 to 30 years old, with only 15% being new.

From 1,200 foresters only 500 now only serve in the department, due to limited hiring thanks to memorandum cuts.

Very importantly, Greece has only 14 Canadair fire-extinguishing aircraft. Yes, more have been leased this year, but the permanent fleet has not been renewed. 

Moreover, a report signed by the retired Fire Service second-in-command and legal special investigator-legal specialist to investigate arson crimes Andrianos Gourmatsis, comes down to some worrying conclusions. According to the report, the reorganization of the Fire Brigade attempted in 2020 with a relevant law brought a huge increase in deaths, fires, and burned areas.

During the first seven months of 2021, 49.3% more field and forest areas were burned in comparison to 2020 and 116.6% more as compared to 2019. In addition, the burned areas during the first quarter of 2021 are 36% more than the average burned areas of the period 2008-2020. And this even though this year the most fire-fighting aircrafts in Greek history has been leased - according to the report.

Other sources seem to agree with this conclusion. The processing of the data for the areas in Greece burned by fires between February 1 and August 5, based on the data of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), shows that there is already a significant positive deviation of 180% this year, against the average of the 2008-20 reference period, according to the National Observatory of Athens and Meteo.gr.

In an earlier (April) article, Gourmatsis stated that for 2020 and until 22 March 2021, 97 deaths were caused related to fires in residences. Moreover, Gourmatsis noted also that the Arson Crimes Department was undermined, it became understaffed as half of its human resources was moved to detect Covid cases. As a result, “no serious arson crime in the country has been resolved.”

It should be noted that for the lack of proper fire-fighting infrastructure and mechanism, it is not only the current ND government to blame. No government in the last decades has done the proper planning, enough hirings and purchases to create a Fire Brigade capable of combating wildfires.

This government continued a years-long “tradition” of neglect. And it has done something more, they passed the so-called anti-environmental law, which has been widely criticized by experts and civil society as prioritizing “investors” over the environment, including Natura areas. And laws like this one provide incentives to every wanna-be arsonist.
 

Read.
 

NBA star Afrogreek Giannis Antetokounmpo is offering accommodation in (at least) 87 hotel rooms, for two and three nights, to people affected by the wildfires in Greece. More info about the “Greek Freak’s” Giant Heart project here. 

Antetokounmpo brothers bring NBA trophy home to Greece.

Olympic Games – Tentoglou gets long jump gold for Greece with a leap of 8.41.

Greece Makes History, Qualifies for Water Polo Final at Tokyo Olympics.

Tokyo Olympics: Greece’s Petrounias Wins Bronze in Rings Finals.

Greece’s Karalis Comes in Fourth in Pole Vault in Tokyo.

Greece's entire artistic swimming team is out of Tokyo Olympics because of COVID cases.
 

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