Greek Fires Destroy Olive Trees, Cutting Olive Oil Production

By Marianne Stigset

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Greece's worst forest fires in history may have destroyed as many as 5 million olive trees, cutting production in the world's third-largest olive oil supplier and threatening to reduce output for years, an industry group said.

As much as 5 percent of this year's harvest may be lost, according to the group, Sevitel. A week of fires has killed at least 63 people and ravaged about 250,000 acres (101,200 hectares) of forest and farmland, Greenpeace Greece estimated. The Peloponnese peninsula, which generates 30 percent to 40 percent of the country's 9 billion-euro ($12.3 billion) olive oil market, is the worst affected.

The damage may reduce output to 285,000 metric tons and will devastate the economies of Peloponnese villages, which on average get as much as 60 percent of their income from olive farming, according to Sevitel, an association of producers and processors. Olive trees, which were cultivated by the Minoans of ancient Crete in 3500 B.C., can take 15 years to reach optimal production, the organization said.

``It's the first time in the history of this country that we have such an environmental disaster,'' Nikos Charalambides, director of Greenpeace Greece, said in a phone interview from Athens yesterday. ``Hundreds of people have lost their farmland, their animals. The olive trees will need years to grow.''

It may take a decade for people living off olive farming in the stricken areas to get their earnings back to prior levels, Gregory Antoniadis, the president of Sevitel and spokesman for Elais-Unilever SA, a Greek olive oil exporter, said from Athens.

Homes, Jobs

At least 2,500 people have been left homeless by the fires, which may lead to labor shortages and loss of expertise in the industry, Charalambides said.

More than 250 blazes have spread across central and southern Greece since Aug. 24, requiring the biggest firefighting operation in Europe since World War II. Early estimates set the cost of damage to farmland at 1.5 billion euros, Greek newspaper Express reported this week, citing unidentified government officials. Greece has experienced more wildfires this month than any European country in the past decade, according to the European Space Agency.

Greece, the largest olive oil producer after Spain and Italy, accounts for 13 percent of the global market, according to Rabobank Groep, the world's biggest farm lender. The country produces on average 300,000 tons a year, Antoniadis said. A 5 percent output cut would represent a loss of about 45 million euros, at current prices.

Spain Key

The drop in Greek production is unlikely to affect prices because of rising output in Spain and Italy this year, Rabobank said.

``What's really important is what happens in Spain, the world's top producer,'' Vito Martielli, a food and agribusiness analyst with Rabobank, said by phone from Utrecht, the Netherlands, on Aug. 29. ``Olives have a biannual production cycle and this year, production in Italy and Spain will be very high.''

Production increases in Spain and Italy would more than offset any decline in Greece, helping lift global output potentially by as much as 7.1 percent to about 3 million tons in the next season, which runs from November to March, Martielli said. That would be the highest since 2003-2004, he said.

Prices have dropped about 25 percent to 3 euros a kilogram since 2005-2006, when frost hit the main producing countries, according to Martielli.

Spain produced an estimated 1.1 million tons this season, 39 percent of the market, followed by Italy, which produced 630,000 tons, according to Rabobank. Greece produced 370,000 tons, more than half of which was exported to Italy, the world's biggest consumer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Marianne Stigset in London at mstigset@bloomberg.net

All Major Blazes Under Control

(08-31) 07:47 PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP) --

All major blazes in Greece were under control Friday, and firefighters were working to extinguish smaller fires in the southern part of the country.

One week after hundreds of wildfires broke out across Greece, killing 64 people and costing the country at least $1.6 billion, the fire department said the last major fire near the town of Kato Kotyli "no longer has an active front and is receding."

But it warned in an announcement that just because "we are in a phase where fires are receding, that does not mean that the danger has been eliminated."

Meanwhile, thousands of people lined up outside banks for a third day to receive emergency aid, and the government said 20,000 people received a total of $98 million since banks started to hand out the funds Wednesday.

But officials said they would tighten checks on the fast-track aid process after at least 15 people were arrested in the southwestern city of Pyrgos for allegedly making false claims.

Initial government estimates indicate at least 1,500 homes were gutted in the southern Peloponnese peninsula and on the island of Evia, just north of Athens. But there are concerns that figure could double. At least 4,000 people were left homeless, but that number also could double.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, who faces a close race for re-election in less than three weeks, promised to rebuild all homes destroyed by the fires through a new disaster relief fund made up of state and private contributions. He said homeless families would initially be provided with prefabricated homes.

Karamanlis did not say how much that would cost.

The European Commissioner for Regional Policy, Danuta Hubner, flew over the burned regions Friday to assess how much aid Greece needed. She said after meeting Karamanlis that Greece would probably receive $237 million in emergency aid and could be eligible for another $546 million, depending on the damage caused by the fires.

"The European Commission is determined to explore all possible means of support and assure the mobilization of available funds in order to help," she said.

A help line set up for fire victims and offers of help has received tens of thousands of calls, mostly from people who want to contribute aid. Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos said private donations from Greeks has amounted to more than $52 million. The government has so far budgeted around $450 million for such aid.

The fires are dominating political debate before the Sept. 16 elections. Criticism that the government failed to respond quickly enough — and its suggestions the fires resulted from an organized attack — could hurt Karamanlis.

A series of polls have indicated that the conservatives had a razor-thin margin over George Papandreou's main opposition Socialist Party.

Greeks Crowd Into Banks, Seeking Cash After Fires

By REUTERS

PYRGOS, Greece, Aug. 30 (Reuters) — Thousands of Greeks besieged banks on Thursday, clamoring for state compensation for damage caused by the country’s worst wildfires, a few of which still burned one week into the crisis.

People were taking advantage of a program granting them an instant $4,000 by showing identification and signing a form at banks in affected areas, a simple procedure the government says shows that it is reacting quickly to the fires, which have killed 63 people.

Critics who condemned the center-right government for what they called its initial inability to prevent or extinguish the fires said its compensation system, instituted less than three weeks ahead of parliamentary elections, was open to widespread fraud.

“Who are all these people?” asked Ourania Fotopoulou, as at least 400 people lined up outside a bank here, a provincial capital in the stricken Peloponnesian peninsula. “I don’t recognize a single one of them and I have lived here all my life.”

Many people in the lines spoke with accents from outside the region, and some admitted that they had come from as far away as Athens and Thessaloniki, which is about 370 miles to the north.

A government spokesman said that the forms would be checked later and that anyone committing fraud would be punished. On Wednesday alone, banks handed over more than $33 million.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said the simplified system was the right thing. “The order is ‘move fast,’ without any delay,” he said at a news briefing. “We’re removing bureaucratic hurdles. Nothing should stand in the way of us doing our duty.”

The government’s handling of the crisis has become a central issue for Mr. Karamanlis’s campaign as the Sept. 16 election approaches. Kathimerini, a center-right newspaper, said he needed to recover from initial impotence in the face of the fires.

“The first round, that is the fight against the fires, was lost because of the poor performance of the state apparatus,” it said. “The second round, that of reconstruction, has only just begun. It will be an uphill struggle within a tight time frame.” A cartoon in the newspaper showed a helicopter flying over scorched countryside dropping bank notes from a water bucket while the pilot says, “Yes, Prime Minister, as agreed, we’re dropping 100-euro bills so the land will turn green again.”

Vast areas of countryside burned, and more than 500 homes were destroyed by the fires, Europe’s most extensive in a decade, according to the European Space Agency.

On Thursday, some fires raged on, one in the western Peloponnesian peninsula, another on the island of Euboea, north of Athens.

The fires will cost Greece at least $1.6 billion, according to a government minister, and Athens plans to use emergency aid from the European Union. Private citizens have already donated almost $52 million to a disaster relief fund.

This information was gathered from:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/0...

Greek Fires Start to Subside

ATHENS, Greece, August 29, 2007 (ENS) - Firefighters are beginning to gain ground against the worst forest fires to strike Greece in more than a century, but only after the blazes claimed 64 lives and charred much of Ilia prefecture on the Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece.

The country remains in the state of emergency and suspicion is rife that arsonists are to blame for more than half of the wildfires. To date, seven people have been arrested and charged with arson, including one person who is accused of setting fires at Zacharo, a village in Ilia where 37 people perished last week trying to escape the flames.

Two new wildfires broke out in northwest Ioannina prefecture today, and some large fires are still burning, but many others have been doused by firefighters and aircraft from across Europe. Greek firefighters are getting reinforcements of about 120 men from Cyprus, France and Israel.

Wednesday, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis expressed the gratitude of all Greeks to the firefighters and called them heroes.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis promises cash to fire victims. (Photo courtesy Office of the Prime Minister)

Quick cash was made available to anyone who declared they had been harmed by the fire by Karamanlis' conservative government concerned about retaining power in elections slated for September 16.

The prime minister said emergency allocations of 3,000 euros (US$4,096) per affected household were to be made "without delay," upon only "a simple solemn statement of the beneficiary, with only one signature."

Greeks have suffered enough, he said, without being made to suffer more by bureaucratic processes.

Banks are offering debt forgiveness for those who have lost close relatives or suffered major losses of property. Credit card and loan payments are being deferred for borrowers in fire-ravaged areas.

Main opposition leader George Papandreou, visited Zacharo on Saturday, but refrained from criticizing the government. His party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement, suspended its weekend campaigning and pledged 30 percent of the party's election funds to people hurt by the wildfires in the Peloponnese.

Wildfires have plagued Greece since July, but since Thursday at least 190 fires broke out across southern Greece, and also near Athens, Sparta and other cities. Fire singed the edges of ancient Olympia, site of the first Olympic games, but was stopped before the ancient monuments were destroyed.

Firefighters are still battling blazes across southern Greece and on Evia island, off eastern continental Greece, and fire officials fear the rekindling of wildfires where they already have been doused.

Some villages on the Peloponnese peninsula are still being evacuated today. Homes in more than 100 villages were destroyed and many families lost livestock and olive trees. Damages are estimated in the billions of euros.

Silent demonstrators outside the Greek Parliament building in Athens. August 29, 2007 (Photo by Constantin)

In Athens, thousands of people gathered outside the parliament buildings in protest of the government's slow and inadequate response to the fires. They expressed resentment at the "false statements of Karamanlis" from this past March that supposedly Greece was ready to face fires expected in the summer, while the government allocated only "minimal means" to fight them.

Weather conditions, including record summer temperatures and hot dry winds, have made Greece and southern Italy a tinderbox, said the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Greece has experienced more wildfire activity this August than other European countries have over the last decade, according to data from sensors aboard European Space Agency satellites.

Working like thermometers in the sky, the sensors measure thermal infrared radiation to take the temperature of Earth's land surfaces. Data from July 1996 to August 28, 2007 were used to plot the number of fires occurring monthly. Results show Greece has had four times the number of fires this August as were burning in August 1998.

Burned over land at Zacharo, where 37 people died trying to flee last week. (Photo credit unknown)

The data from these sensors is compiled to create the ATSR World Fire Atlas, which provides data to online users approximately six hours after acquisition. All available satellite passes are processed for the atlas.

In addition to maps, the time, date, longitude and latitude of the hot spots are provided. The data are meant to be used for research and especially for fire prevention and management.

But a report today in the "Economist" says Greek forestry officials were hampered by "lack of access to satellite pictures that could have enabled fire-fighters to find and douse blazes before they caused serious damage."

In 2000, the European Space Agency and the French space agency formed the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, which rapidly creates tasks for earth observation satellites and delivers the resulting spacemaps to emergency response and civil protection authorities anywhere in the world.

Finally today, the Hellenic national mapping and survey agency, part of the Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works, requested spacemaps of the Greek fires from the International Charter.

Information gathered from:
http://www.ens-newswire.com...

Seven charged over Greek fires

Greek authorities have charged seven people with starting a number of forest fires that have so far claimed 63 lives.

Anti-terrorist authorities said they were joining the investigation, and it is thought one possible motive could be that unscrupulous property developers were hoping to move in on the areas where forest has been destroyed.

This comes as firefighters backed by an international force battled the flames for a fifth day.

Meanwhile, Greek opposition MPs have attacked the government's response to the devastating fires.

In the capital, Athens, hundreds of people took to the streets in protest, many blaming the government.

Information gathered from: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0828/greece.html

Fires in Greece Pictures 2007

UPDATE:
Wednesday October 10th, 2007


Residents trying to extinguish a burning house in the village of Smerna. Some of the raging fires, spread by dry winds, have been blamed on arsonists. In Areopolis, a town in the southern Peloponnese, a 65-year-old man was arrested and charged with arson and multiple counts of homicide in a fire that killed six people.

The winged statue of victory stands in front of smoke from fires in the village of ancient Olympia, near the birthplace of the Olympic games, in south-west Greece. A huge effort by firefighters, water-dropping aircraft and fire trucks succeeded in keeping a raging blaze away from the 2,800-year-old site - the holiest sanctuary in ancient Greece

Fire approaches houses at the village of Kalyvia, south of Athens

Men using a tractor try to extinguish a fire near ancient Olympia

A helicopter drops water in the forest over the Pelopio village near ancient Olympia

A man leaves the burning village near ancient Olympia

UPDATE:
Wednesday September 19th, 2007

2 / 10

Greek soldiers evacuate an old man from a village near ancient Olympia

UPDATE:
Wednesday September 5th, 2007

mountains over ancient Olympia

Firefighters saved the temples and stadiums of ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games, from forest fires that razed nearby villages and claimed the life of 60 people.

Building on forest land is forbidden in Greece, but unscrupulous developers are blamed for setting the fires in an effort to circumvent the law by disputing the area’s status. Greece has no land registry, so once a region has been burned and cleared, there is no definitive proof of whether it was initially forest, farm or field.

Tuesday September 4th, 2007

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Many parts of Greece have been struggling to cope with devastating fires that have killed more than 50 people.

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Farmers have seen their crops - and livelihoods - burning ferociously.

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Fires are affecting the capital, Athens, too. This picture of the Athens sky was sent to the BBC by Ava Babili.

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Konstantinos Topalidis also took pictures in the Greek capital. "It feels like snowing ashes and it is quite smoky," he says.

Monday September 3nd, 2007

BBC News website readers have sent in their photos of the fires in Greece. This one, from Aris Vidalis, shows how Athens looked on Saturday.

Dimitris Koukoulakis sent this photo from the village of Kalamos, north of Athens, overlooking the fires at Evia. Later the view disappeared as the smoke got thicker

"On Sunday we went to the sea for a swim. The sea was a different colour because of the countless pieces of coal and ash in it," said Mr Koukoulakis.

Moses Altsech, who sent this photo of fires in an affluent suburb of Athens, says that the government was not well prepared for the disaster.

"I went to the roof of my house to take pictures of the smoke in the sky. Everything was covered in ash," said Nassis Sarris, who took this picture.

Spyros Papanastasiou was observing a fire spreading quickly on one side of the road, when he noticed that another one started in the opposite direction."

"I was on the way to Gythio which is near Areopolis and I was standing beside the road just outside Oitilo," said Constantinos Vergos, who took this photo.

The sun set beneath a wall of smoke from the many fires around Athens. (Photo: Philip M Evans)

UPDATE:
Sunday September 2nd, 2007


The fires have covered Athens in white ash, forced thousands to flee their villages...


... and burned about 500 homes



But there will be enormous relief that the fires have not engulfed the Olympic museum, housing a number of famous classical sculptures such as Hermes by Praxiteles and other finds from the ruins of the temples and sports facilities.



Fire brigades evacuated hundreds of villages on the southern Peloponnese peninsula


Fires clearly visible from space

Firefighters managed to save the site of ancient Olympia - birthplace of the Olympics

Several EU countries have sent their own firefighers and equipment to help battle the country's worst forest fires in decades.


Firefighters are continuing to battle forest fires raging across southern Greece

In Athens, too, major fires encroached on the city, and aircraft were called in to help dampen the flames.

Fire services were stretched to the limit. Helicopters tried to douse the flames in the Peloponnese region, but high winds hampered the use of planes.

Dozens of people were caught up in the advancing flames, in their homes, or as they tried to flee in cars or on foot.

At dawn near Zaharo, in western Greece, forest fires continued to burn ferociously after a prolonged heatwave and drought. The daylight would bring horror to the town.

Smoke rose behind a beach last week on the Peloponnesian peninsula in Greece. With a barrage of deadly fires mostly extinguished or contained, tourists are returning.



A Canadair firefighting airplane sprays water over a fire in the village of Kyparissia on the Peloponnese peninsula. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso pledged EU support for Greece here Saturday as firefighters tackled the remains of an eight-day inferno that has killed at least 63 people

This picture released by the Greek Prime Minister's Office shows Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis(R) bidding farewell to President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso after their meeting in Athens. Barroso pledged EU support for Greece here Saturday as firefighters tackled the remains of an eight-day inferno that has killed at least 63 people

Firefighters battle blaze on the outskirts of Karytena on the Peloponnese peninsula. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso pledged EU support for Greece here Saturday as firefighters tackled the remains of an eight-day inferno that has killed at least 63 people.

Firefighters battle blaze on the outskirts of Karytena on the Peloponnese peninsula, 01 September. A fire raged in Mount Parnon near the Greek town of Sparta for a ninth day Sunday but other blazes in the devastated Mediterranean country were under control, the fire services said.

Planes douse a blaze on the outskirts of Karytena on the Peloponnese peninsula, 01 September. A fire raged in Mount Parnon near the Greek town of Sparta for a ninth day Sunday but other blazes in the devastated Mediterranean country were under control, the fire services said.

Smoke and flames from a forest fire are seen behind the houses of a village in south Peloponnese, about 350 km (217 miles) from Athens, August 26, 2007. Weak zoning laws, careless farmers and smoldering garbage dumps are the main reasons for the forest fires that have killed 63 and destroyed whole rural economies in Greece in recent days, Greenpeace said on Monday.

A wreath sits on a burnt firefighting truck outside the village of Artemida on the Peloponnese peninsula. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso headed to Athens to "show solidarity" with Greeks traumatised by forest fires which have killed scores of people and surged once again on Friday

A Greek Red Cross member walks next to the burnt car of Artemida's village mayor at Peloponnese peninsula. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso headed to Athens to "show solidarity" with Greeks traumatised by forest fires which have killed scores of people and surged once again on Friday.

Prosecutor orders probe into Greek fires

ELENA BECATOROS
AP
Monday Aug 27, 2007

ATHENS, Greece - A top prosecutor ordered an investigation Monday into whether this summer's arson attacks in Greek forests could be considered terrorism, the Public Order Ministry said.

Meanwhile, a fire broke out on the fringes of Athens a day after a massive effort prevented the birthplace of the Olympics from being devastated by flames.

Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is responsible for prosecuting terrorism and organized crime, ordered the investigation to determine "whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests" could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law, the ministry said in a statement.

The probe also will seek to establish the identities of the alleged perpetrators.

Greece has been ravaged by hundreds of massive wildfires since Friday that have left at least 61 people dead. The country also suffered fires in June and July, although they were not nearly on the same scale.

Government officials have said they suspect at least some of the blazes have been caused by arson. The government has offered a reward of up to $1.36 million for anyone providing information that would lead to the arrest of an arsonist.

"So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence," Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a nationally televised address on Saturday. "The state will do everything it can to find those responsible and punish them."

Several people have been arrested on suspicion of arson since Friday, although some were accused of starting fires through negligence rather than intent. One man, however, was charged with arson and homicide in connection with a fire near the southern town of Areopolis on Friday that killed six people.

Forest fires are common during Greece's hot, dry summers — but nothing has approached the scale of the last three days.

Desperate residents appealed through television stations for help from a firefighting service already stretched to the limit and anger mounted, with many blaming authorities for leaving them defenseless. Scores of people were treated in hospitals for burns and breathing problems. The government declared a state of emergency on Saturday.

The front of one fire Sunday reached Ancient Olympia in southern Greece, burning trees and shrubs just a few yards from the museum at the site. Firefighters said the flames, fanned by high winds and swirling air, leaped hundreds of feet in the air at times.

Although the pristine forest around Ancient Olympia was burned, none of the 2,800-year-old ruins were damaged.

"Firefighters fought a battle in Ancient Olympia, which was won," Diamandis said. Authorities said at least two firefighters had been injured in the battle with the flames on Sunday.

Helicopters and aircraft covered the ruins with water and foam. The flames reached the edge of the ancient stadium, searing the grass and incinerating the trees on the hill above. Volunteers grabbed buckets of water and joined firefighters.

"It's hell everywhere," said Costas Ladas, a resident of Kolyri near Ancient Olympia, who said the fire covered more than a mile in three minutes. "I've never seen anything like it."

Across the country, hundreds of people were evacuated from villages, hotels and resorts. Others took refuge in churches and schools, while the Health Ministry was sending hundreds of tents to southern Greece to house those left homeless.

The worst of the fires have been concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese in the south and on the island of Evia north of Athens. Strong winds blew smoke and ash over the capital, blackening the evening sky and turning the rising moon red.

"The whole village is burning. It's been burning for three days," one woman sobbed, clutching her 20-month-old daughter as they sheltered in a church along with dozens of others near Figalia in the western Peloponnese.

In the ravaged mountain villages in the Peloponnese, rescue crews found a grim scene that spoke of last-minute desperation as the fires closed in. Dozens of charred bodies have been found across fields, homes, along roads and in cars.

The remains of a mother hugging her four children were found near the town of Zaharo in the western Peloponnese.

Meanwhile, weekend wildfires also killed two elderly people in neighboring Bulgaria, officials said Monday. They died in a fire that burned down their house in the southern village of Prisadets, said Darina Stamatova, spokeswoman of the regional administration.

An Associated Press photographer on the scene said almost all houses in the villages of Prisadets, Varnik and Filipovo were destroyed by the flames.

A blistering hot summer has led to more than a thousand wildfires across Bulgaria in the past three months burning down 84,000 acres of forests and farm fields, the government said.

This information gathered from:
http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/a.......

200 fires in Greece

Teams fight more than 200 fires in Greece
The Associated Press, The Boston Globe
Published: July 26, 2007


ATHENS: Hundreds of firefighters and soldiers fought more than 200 fires across Greece on Thursday. The fires have killed two people and burned dozens of homes as southeast Europe has been scorched by a weeklong heat wave.

More fires were burning across other European countries, from Italy to Slovakia, though there was some respite as the region's second summer heat wave began to subside.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis of Greece appealed to President Vladimir Putin of Russia for help in fighting the fires, and Putin telephoned to say he would send firefighting planes Friday, the prime minister's office said. It did not give details on how many Russian aircraft would be sent.

Greece was facing "a particularly difficult situation," Karamanlis's office said, "due to the simultaneous appearance of a large number of forest fires and unprecedented weather conditions."

In Bulgaria, the authorities asked NATO, the European Union and Russia to send water-carrying aircraft to fight hundreds of wildfires, officials said.

The death toll from southeast Europe's heat wave has been mounting and as many as 500 people were estimated Tuesday to have died in Hungary the previous week, partly as a result of the heat.

Along Croatia's Adriatic coast, the threat to tourist camps and villages receded as firefighters who have battled blazes for days brought a dozen remaining fires mostly under control.

While temperatures dropped somewhat across the region, strong winds fanned Greece's fires, the deadliest of which spread across the northern coastline of the Peloponnese for a fourth day.

A fire near the coastal towns of Egio and Akrata killed one man late Wednesday and a woman died early Thursday after being trapped in her home.

The fire, which started Monday has ripped through villages, burning dozens of houses, and more villages are threatened, the fire authorities said, adding that several planes and helicopters were battling the blaze.

The area is a popular holiday destination for Greeks, many of whom own holiday homes along the coast.

The fire as a front as long as 35 kilometers, or 20 miles, said Egio's deputy mayor, Panagiotis Gousas. "It is huge."

"There are several fire fronts and more houses are in danger," he said.

The regional civil protection chief, Yannis Poupis, told Greek TV that helicopters could not operate over parts of the blaze because thick black smoke was obstructing visibility.

The authorities have closed off the main highway connecting Athens with the port city of Patras on the Peloponnese.

The fire brigade said there were fires all over Greece, from the northern city of Thessaloniki to the southern Peloponnese.

Its resources have been stretched to the limit and army conscripts have been called in to help. One firefighting plane crashed Monday while battling a blaze, killing its two-member crew. The authorities said the crash was probably the result of fatigue.

Temperatures of more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) baked the country for six consecutive days before temperatures dropped Thursday to about 38 Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).

Greece experienced a previous long heat wave in late June that killed at least 10 people and sent 250 others to hospital with heatstroke.

In Bulgaria, fires have ravaged more than 12,000 hectares, or 5,000 acres, of forest since last week. Thousands of firefighters and soldiers have been battling blazes that have claimed at least two lives, officials said.

The European Union newcomer has asked its Western allies to send helicopters to help it fight fires in mountains.

"We are calling for help, because the situation is extremely difficult," said a spokeswoman for the Disasters Ministry. "with the wind picking up, it is indeed very serious."

Sofia also wants to borrow again a Russian water-carrying aircraft that helped put out fires in southern Bulgaria earlier this week, but it flew to neighboring Serbia on Wednesday.

Fires continued to rage in virtually every municipality in the Black Sea country, despite a drop in temperatures.

In Serbia, several fires were swaths of forest and shrubland.

Daily Satellite Images of Fires

What Can I Do To Help?

Since the blaze begun many fund raisers have started across the world to help those without homes, re-forestation, lost pets, etc.

Western Canada's Greek consul George Aravositas said the fire is expected to cause more than $1.2 billion in damage. Every little bit helps including your contribution.

If you wish to volunteer your time, please click here to find out how you can physically donate your time and energy to this cause.

Below is a list of genuine fund-raisers started by various organizations around the world.


Facebook:

If you have a facebook account please consider:

Campaign for reforestation of areas in Greece destroyed by forest fires.
(click here to donate)

Our mission is to contribute to the reforestation of Greece.

Description:
The fires that have broken out in many areas of Greece have ruined people's lives and homes. Many speculate that people have started these fires deliberately to criticize the Greek government, to influence the upcoming elections, or to cause chaos.

Whatever the motive or their cause, the fires are devastating for the people of Greece, who are losing family members, firefighters, homes, land, sacred ancient sites, and faith in their country. The Greek-American "Plant Your Roots in Greece" is a non-profit foundation which has started a reforestation campaign to restore the beauty of the country and to strengthen the bonds between Greek-Americans and their homeland.

Please contribute to this foundation and do what you can to support the efforts to rebuild Greece. Below is a letter on the official website from Theodoros Spyropoulos, president of the foundation, US coordinator and Vice President of the Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE). http://www.saeusa.org/content/view/81/65/lang,en/

HelpGreeceNow.org
(click here to donate)

The summer of 2007 in Greece has been the worst year to date for fires raging out of control, destroying homes, livestock, trees and tragically lives. In the most recent and fiercest battle yet, fires have claimed at least 63 lives to date and the number is estimated to climb once the fires have been extinguished and homes are searched for those left behind. Many of whom perished protecting their livelihood or were simply too old or sick to evacuate. The terrain of many of these villages is not what we are accustomed to, and unless you have visited such areas, it may be difficult to imagine why this happened and the destruction so profound. Many are villages where people work and live off their land and their livestock. They are beautiful modest and picturesque villages built on the mountainous landscape surrounded by trees and fresh air and pure water. But no more.

Now they are villages burned, charred and their people must attempt to rebuild, salvage and try to determine how they will go on living with no home, no belongings and no means of income now or for the future. Acres and acres of land used to cultivate, grow and sell products has been destroyed. Generations of olive trees, orchards, livestock and other means of livelihood completely gone. The long term effects of this ecological and financial disaster are devastating.

This website is offering a wristband that you can wear in pride as a supporter of this cause. 100% of the profits will go to benefit those who lost so much in these devastating fires. .

Greece gave us so much. Its people, our people need our help. Please donate in any manner you feel is appropriate.

Greek Relief Fund:
(click here to donate)

The Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC (HCC(BC)), in coordination with the Hellenic Community of Vancouver, has initiated the Greek Fire Relief Program which is aimed at assisting the victims of one of the worst disasters to strike Greece in modern history.

A Press Conference has been called for Thursday, August 30th at 12 noon at the SFU Campus in Downtown Vancouver. This modern day Greek tragedy hits close to home for all Greeks across British Columbia. Most have loved ones visiting or living in Greece’s Peloponnese and Evia Regions. The fortunate ones have been able to contact their relatives and have heard of their courageous attempts fighting fires that have so rapidly incinerated much of Greece. Others sit and wait by the telephone for a sign of life from anyone.
“The Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC’s response to this horrendous disaster has begun; the infrastructure is almost near completion and the funds that British Columbians donate will be used to aid those in most dire need,” says Demitrios Douzenis, Greek Fire Relief Program Chair, adding “the press conference will highlight the various ways people from around the province can donate to this cause.”

“The Hellenes of BC are deeply saddened by the tragedy unfolding in Greece. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their way of life and we commend the heroic efforts of local and international firefighters alongside the Greek population,” stated Peter P. Kletas, President of the Hellenic Community of Vancouver. “One of the smallest European countries that plays the perfect host to millions of tourists from around the world each year, a country that has touched so many people with its culture, way of life and emphasis on family, is now in need for the world to give a little back,” cites Alex Peter Tsakumis, President of the HCC(BC).

The HCC(BC) represents the social, political, and cultural interests of Greeks across BC, while the Hellenic Community of Vancouver maintains the province’s largest Greek community. Information on donating can be found at www.greekrelief.ca, which will go live Thursday afternoon. For over 20 years, the Hellenic Canadian Congress of BC, a non-governmental organization, has been an advocate of unity for Canadians of Greek decent, a promoter of Hellenism, a campaigner for inter-group cooperation, and a cohesive voice for Greeks in BC.

Media Contact
Jenny Siormanolakis
778 688 7252

Red Cross
(seeking clothing, tents, toothpaste, food, ect.)
(click here to donate)

FIRES IN GREECE - 24 AUGUST 2007
up to date SITUATION REPORT No 1, -
PRELIMINARY EMERGENCY APPEAL
27 August 2007

Greece has been experiencing an ordeal, since Friday the 24th of August 2007, when a number of wildfires started burning forests and villages in most of Peloponnesus peninsula, namely regions of the Prefectures of Helia, Messinia, Achaia, Lakonia, Argolida, Korinthia and Evia Island. The situation on the 26th deteriorated with more new fires in different regions of the country.

Update, Monday the 27th the situation is still devastating most of the affected areas. These fires have already burned hundreds of thousands of square km of forest areas, olive groves as well as a vast number of residences in villages in the above mentioned areas. On Saturday the 25th the Prime Minister declared Greece in a state of emergency. International assistance has been requested from several countries in fire-fighting means. In addition to these damages the death toll seems to have no ending. The number has risen to approximately 63 causalities, for the time being, while there are serious fears that this number will rise again, since there are people still missing. Many people have been in need of first aid, psychological support and medical care due to burns, traumas and respiratory problems.

Moreover, as a result of the fires a lot of regions - not only the affected ones – face breakdowns in telecommunication, power (electricity) and water supply. There is a great number of people who have been left homeless, however, it is too early to measure the extent of the damages and the affected populations, since the disastrous fires are still ongoing.

Bank of Greece
(click here to donate)

Relief for the victims of the recent fires.

The General Council of the Bank of Greece, which convened extraordinarily on Sunday 26 August 2007 by invitation of its Chairman Mr Nicholas C. Garganas, expresses its profound sorrow for the victims of the recent fires ravaging the country and for the enormous economic and ecological disaster they have caused. It was decided that the Bank will contribute the amount of €5,000,000 to the restoration effort and the aid of victims. By virtue of Ministry of Economy and Finance decision 2/53006/27.08.2007, a

"Hellenic Republic-Relief Account for Fire Victims" with ΙΒΑΝ GR9801000230000002341103053 and SWIFT/BIC: BNGRGRAA has already been opened at the Bank of Greece, Government Accounts Section. The above mentioned contribution of the Bank was deposited in this account, which will also receive any amounts deposited for this purpose by individuals and institutions with banks in Greece and abroad.

GreekBoston.com
(click here to donate)

GreekBoston will collect funds and make all arrangements, including the names of each individual donator, to submit to the official fund setup for this fire disaster relief. We will also list all donators here so please help today! If you would like to donate a care package or anything non-monetary, please check back here for instructions on where to donate.

Generous Donors: George Pissimissis - Hyannis, MA Digital HiFi Inc - Wesley Chapel, FL Katina Sidiropoulou - Sweden Jeannie Green - Grants Pass, OR John Kontos - Miami Beach, FL Caroline Kalogeropoulos - Boston, MA Neeloofar Jenks - Seattle, WA Georgia Flamburis - Allston, MA

In addition to our efforts, SAE has posted information for contributions below:

SAE / USA is appealing to all Hellenes to contribute whatever you can to the bank account listed below to provide relief, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to families victimized by the fires and to fund reforestation of devastated areas through the SAE / USA project “Plant Your Roots in Greece.”

Please make your contributions payable to “Plant Your Roots in Greece” and send to:

Chicago Community Bank Acct: # 459-0070-59
234 S Wabash Ave FL2-Chicago, IL 60604-2365

Deposits in Greece:
Alpha Bank Acct: # 143-0021-1-037288
Eurobank Acct: # 0026.0012.39.0100763237

Videos, Pictures, and More

1.09.2007 EC chief Jose Manuel Barroso has visited Greece as firefighters continue to battle rekindled wildfires.



31.08.2007 Peloponnese : Fire in Ano Kotili (Ano Kotyli). In Minthi (Minhi), a hamlet of about 30 homes near Zaharo, 50 people attended the funeral of shepherd Giorgos Tripodis, 79, who perished with most of his flock. His body was so badly burnt it had to be identified through DNA testing.






31.08.2007 Picture Slide-show :



28.08.2007 Picture Slide-show :



25.08.2007 Apo olympia pros dimo olenis.

Volunteering Opportunity

Vassili Karageorgis (facebook) wrote at 3:51am on
September 05 2007
Ethelontis Vs. Fotia / Volontaire contre le feu / Volunteer against fire

>>> En francais ci-dessous >> English follows <<<

Nomarxia Hlias

To Grafeio Ethelontismou tis Nomarxias Hlias eine ston Pyrgo.
Opoios thelei pernei tilefono gia na rotisei gia tis anagkes kai na ton steiloun os ethelontis stis pleigises perioxes.
Til : +30 2621 03 65 43

Xorio Zaxaro

Exei dimiourgithei enas xoros sygkentrosis tis anthropistikis voithias.
Ekei mporei na paei kapoios kai na voithisei os ethelontis i na dosei pragmata.
Til : +30 2625 033 275

*MTD parakalo*

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Prefecture d'Ilias

Le bureau du volontariat de la prefecture d'Ilias se trouve a Pyrgos.
Toute personne peut appeler pour connaitre les besoins et etre envoyee en tant que volontaire dans les zones touchees.
Tel. : +30 2621 03 65 43

Village de Zacharo

Un point de rassemblement de l'aide humanitaire a ete cree.
Toute personne peut s'y rendre pour aider en tant que volontaire ou pour faire des dons.
Tel. : +30 2625 033 275

*TR svp*

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Prefecture of Ilias

The volunteers office of the prefecture of Ilias is in Pyrgos.
Any person can call to know what are the needs and be sent as a volunteer in the affected areas.
T +30 2621 03 65 43

Zacharo Village

A humanitarian aid assembly point has been created.
Any person can come there to help as a volunteer or to make donations.
T +30 2625 033 275

UnderConstruction