Πέμπτη 20 Σεπτεμβρίου 2007

Fire


Fires threaten the historical site of Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games.


September 2nd 2007

Hello people,

I am back from my weekend, during which quite a lot happened, actually.

I don’t know whether news have reached the US at all about this, but Greece has been plagued by fires this summer, and it’s just gotten much worse. Granted, fires during the hot season is a common occurrence here, just as it is in California, except that this year, for the first time, there have been several deaths. We’re up to 62 and counting, including at least 4 firemen.

That’s without counting the environmental damage, the tons of CO2 released in the atmosphere, the thousands of acres of woods and wildlife lost, destroyed houses, etc. The government has declared this a national tragedy and various countries have sent helicopters and help, like Russia, France, Serbia, etc.

Unfortunately, Greece’s fires are only half the time due to the weather or accidental. The rest of the time, they are criminal. Oh, sure, we do have a few pyromaniacs, just like anybody else. But the true problem stems from a law that states that protected wooded areas are no longer protected once they have burnt down. Therefore, people are free to build on the land. Get the picture? Some people have apparently no scruples at all, (and clearly not much love for their country or countrymen) and set fires in order to be able to exploit the land. A lot of the houses built on burnt wooded areas, strangely enough, belong to high-ranking government officials from both main political parties. Here’s a country that knows what screwed-up means.

During the weekend, I received increasingly frantic calls from my mother, who was terribly afraid my friends and I might get closed in by the fires, since the Peloponnesus village where we were staying was surrounded by a burning village roughly 10 miles to the West and the city of Corinth to the East, which was also burning and through which we had to go through in order to go back to Athens.

While driving back, we listened to the radio reports. A lot of them were of what I call the classical Greek media variety, namely people interviewing locals in areas where the fires had destroyed/killed the most. The conversations usually went something like this:

Reporter: “Can you tell us what’s happening?”
Local: “It’s burning! Everything is burning! We are surrounded by fire!”
Reporter: “Can you be more specific?”
Local: “Our house is gone! There are no firefighters!”
Reporter: (preferably ghoulishly) “Are there any dead?”

Some radio reports were thankfully more to the point, calling government officials to find out what was being done and whether the famous “build-once-it’s-burnt” law could maybe be changed to avoid further destruction of our country. This is where one sees how lethal Greek bureaucracy really becomes. One conversation went like this:

Reporter: “Would it be possible to change the law that has created so many problems?”
Agriculture Minister: “Certainly.”
Reporter: “Don’t you agree it might be a good solution?”
Agriculture Minister: “I guess so.”
Reporter: “Who is responsible for that?”
Agriculture Minister: “I don’t know. Not me.”
Reporter: “What about the protection of wooded areas…?”
Agriculture Minister: “I no longer have anything to do with that, that responsibility has been transferred to the firefighters.”
Reporter: “What about organizing the firefighting forces and the army…?”
Agriculture Minister: “That’s the responsibility of the Department of National Order.”
Reporter: “What about cleaning up the burnt areas…?”
Agriculture Minister: “That’s the responsibility of the Park Rangers.”
Reporter: “But who do the Rangers report to?”
Agriculture Minister: “Oh, well, I guess they report to the Ministry of Agriculture.”

Need I say it? There is of course close to no efficient cooperation between all these various agencies.

There were also several fires in the Northern suburbs of Athens. The sky turned grey at noon and the ashes reached even my house in the Southern suburbs by the sea. When I got back from my weekend, my grandma told me that there had been a fire a couple of miles from her apartment.

What makes this year’s fires so unusual and frightening is that fires started in close to 150 places throughout Greece almost at once. Obviously, the firefighters were unable to be everywhere, despite the fact that 98% of the firefighting force was dispatched and has been working tirelessly. With the dangerous Mediterranean winds blowing strong and changing directions every couple of hours, the fires quickly expand uncontrollably and some firefighting planes and helicopters are unable to work efficiently. The army has been sent in to help. Despite all this, some villages have not seen a single firefighter – and of course people blame the government.

The historic monuments, temples and museums in beautiful Ancient Olympia and Ancient Corinth were in serious danger of burning to the ground and were saved in the nick of time, trees burnt up to their very doors, while the gorgeous theatre of Epidaurus is still touch and go. I am watching the news right now, and it seems like the flames have started again close to Ancient Olympia.

But 150 fires at once? Now there are talks of a conspiracy. There are many suspects: the Albanian minority (because they hate us/we treat them badly), the Turks (because they hate us/they understood that they will never get into the EU), even the US government (because they hate us/because Greece dared to switch their energy and are now buying from the Russians instead of the US), or (much worse and unfortunately more likely to be true in my opinion) fanatical Greeks belonging to the political party that lost the last election, in the hopes that the upcoming election will turn back in their favor. You see, the Constitution states that once an election is announced, it cannot be cancelled except in case of war, no matter what situation the country is in.

My guess? I doubt we’ll ever know. But whoever the people responsible are, they have caused terrible and maybe irreversible damage to this country. For the first time in my life, I find myself wishing there is a hell, with fires burning as bright and hot as the ones that were lit here.

Sorry for the darker tone of this entry, I promise to go back to annoying government employees thereafter.

Take care,
L.

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SOME FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER:

John H:
It is good to hear from you, despite the dark tone of the email. I have been thinking about you during all of these fires. The fires have been making the news here for the last several days. It's good to hear that you and everyone you know is safe.
That's unbelievable that burned areas are unprotected. Of course, since I have had the education from you in Greek politics, maybe it is not so unbelievable. Tragic either way.
I hope you stay safe, the fires are contained, the criminals are caught, and the laws are changed to prevent these kinds of things from happening in the future.

Wes K:
Laura,
That is quite sad. Sometimes it feels overwhelming when faced with such corruption -- I know I feel that way regarding the US government. One can only hope that good people rise to the occasion, and perhaps that someday we ourselves will be in a position to do good deeds.
I enjoy your emails greatly. Stay safe.

Devon C:
I think it's the Albanians who set the fires, personally. what a bunch of freakin savages... and no doubt hired by some Greek real estate tycoon who wanted the land cleared so he could build condos on it.

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