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| Saturday's high winds helped spread wildfires across Greece, scorching villages and sending smoke across the Ionian Sea, as
seen in this satellite image from NASA. NASA/AP |
Why is Greece on fire?
As at least 170 wildfires spread, many say that a lack of environmental protection is to blame.
By Nicole Itano | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the August 27, 2007 edition
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ATHENS - The scenes of desperation played out on television: residents phoned local media outlets begging to be saved as walls of fire descended on their houses and villages, while overstretched firefighters battled more than 170 blazes that erupted seemingly simultaneously.
On Sunday, at least 51 people were confirmed dead in the worst series of fires to hit Greece in decades. And still, fires, many of them blamed on arsonists, continued to spread across the country, fanned by gale-force winds and fed by vegetation dried out from long months of drought.
Now, as authorities struggle to deal with the immediate crisis, the fires have pushed the environment to the top of the political agenda in a country where such issues previously won little attention. With Greek national elections less than three weeks away, questions are being raised about how seriously the government takes the protection of the country's open spaces.
Calling the fires an "unspeakable tragedy," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis declared a state of emergency Saturday, along with three days of mourning. For the time being, campaigning in the election has been called off and some analysts suggest that the election may even be delayed. Indeed, the fires have spawned outrage and anger across the country.
"Right now we're in state of hiatus, and no one knows how it will finally shake out, but clearly it will be a key issue," says John Psaropoulos, editor of the Athens News, from near Zaharo, one of the hardest hit areas of Greece where dozens have been killed.
This has been one of the hottest and driest summers in recent history, and much of southern Europe has been plagued by forest fires. In Greece, the dry conditions have played a role. But many of the fires, government and forestry experts say, have been set by arsonists, hoping to clear land for development.
"So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence," Mr. Karamanlis said in a nationally televised address Saturday. "The state will do everything it can to find those responsible and punish them."
Already, at least three people have been arrested for setting this weekend's fires; one, accused of setting a blaze that killed six people, is being charged for murder as well as for arson. But in the past, local activists say, the state has had a poor record of catching and prosecuting these types of arsonists. The problem persists, they say, and in large part perpetrators have previously gotten away with it.
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