Fires in Athens again

OregonYeti · #1 08-23-2009, 04:13 AM

Tragic fires in Greece. Haven't they had enough?

Fires reach Athens suburbs, thousands evacuated - Yahoo! News

Koukouvagia · #2 08-23-2009, 05:55 AM

What do you imply? I've just returned from a month long trip there and let me assure you that such a fire can spread quicker than you can imagine, even if it is at the hands of one twisted individual. I go there every summer and I cannot remember a summer since my childhood that fires weren't a common occurrence. Think: it has not rained since May, there are dry bushes everywhere, temperatures get up to 109 degrees in the summer, and the Meltemia Cycladic winds are at their prime in August. All it takes is one cigarette thrown out the window of a car to quickly turn into massive blazes.

OregonYeti · #3 08-23-2009, 03:23 PM

I can see how fires would start and spread easily. I'm just hoping it won't be anything like 2007.

petalsandcoco · #4 08-27-2009, 03:47 PM

My sister lives in Cyprus, the fires are not a joke. All the olive fields.......

OregonYeti · #5 08-31-2009, 07:53 PM

I thought about leaving this thread alone, but decided to answer.

I don't know how my first post was perceived, but I surely meant no joke by it. I've traveled the world some, including Athens (I was a kid but I remember it). I went to an international school in India and had friends from all over the world, and learned a lot about different cultures and places.

That doesn't make me knowledgeable about Greece. I didn't realize that Greece has fires every year, but was just remembering how bad 2007 was (from reading the news).

If I've come across as ignorant, that's my bad. I just want to say that I care about people everywhere.

Gunnar · #6 08-31-2009, 08:21 PM

well chalk up another fire to mediterranean weather, Auburn got hit last night. Ahhh, the wonders of living in chaparral country.

OregonYeti · #7 08-31-2009, 08:26 PM

I've seen news coverage of the Station fire. Man, that's bad. Now I just heard about the 49er fire. Hope you and your loved ones are not affected too much.

DC Sunshine · #8 08-31-2009, 09:08 PM

Bushfires are part and parcel of many climates, and they can be truly terrible in terms of loss of life, both human and animal, loss of buildings and homes, cost to society, cost to the environment.

Our bushfire season is about to "officially" start, but the country has had other ideas, it started early on the east coast.

What I totally abhor is the idiots that go about starting them deliberately - and those that start them negligently. A discarded match or cigarette but is all it takes, a camping fire not properly extinguished. A discarded glass bottle acting as a firestarter...Idiots.

OregonYeti · #9 08-31-2009, 10:17 PM

DC, I have a friend in Victoria who's seen terrible fires recently in her back yard. I hope that it doesn't get bad again soon.

DC Sunshine · #10 09-01-2009, 01:29 AM

Yeti - it was so horrible...and that's just hearing and seeing it on the media. I could share stories but they are too awful. I hope she didn't lose anyone.

All over the country there was a huge push immediately afterwards for blood donors, for the burns victims, its still ongoing, recovery for a lot is people hurt is a long way off.

Koukouvagia · #11 09-01-2009, 05:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OregonYeti

I thought about leaving this thread alone, but decided to answer.

I don't know how my first post was perceived, but I surely meant no joke by it. I've traveled the world some, including Athens (I was a kid but I remember it). I went to an international school in India and had friends from all over the world, and learned a lot about different cultures and places.

That doesn't make me knowledgeable about Greece. I didn't realize that Greece has fires every year, but was just remembering how bad 2007 was (from reading the news).

If I've come across as ignorant, that's my bad. I just want to say that I care about people everywhere.

No that's not what I meant really. At the time that you posted this the fire were blazing out of control and when you said "haven't they had enough already?" it made me think that greeks were just having fun with it and setting fires just to get international attention.

The sad fact is that there is always speculation about these fires being set purposefully around the athens region. There have been many regulations set in that a lot of the forests around Athens are preserved forests and they can't be built on. Some people get it in their minds to set fires to these places because afterwards these forests do not exist and the gov't allows developers in. It's a system that benefits few and hurts many.

These dry climate areas of the world suffer so much every year every year, just like California - it's every year!