Two victims in Greece wildfires

Massive fires blazing out of control in southern Greece left two people dead and led authorities to evacuate parts of the area.

Izvor: AP

Friday, 24.08.2007.

13:43

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Massive fires blazing out of control in southern Greece left two people dead and led authorities to evacuate parts of the area. Three major fires were burning in the southern Peloponnese, where gale force winds were preventing firefighting planes from taking off, leaving only ground forces to tackle the flames. Two victims in Greece wildfires Two people were found dead near a hotel on the outskirts of the town of Areopolis, the fire department said, adding that all local hotels and part of the town had been evacuated. To the northwest, a massive forest fire on Mt. Taigetos was raging out of control on several fronts, leading authorities to evacuate at least three villages and to declare a state of emergency in two areas. Several houses were damaged, and a major highway between Sparta and the town of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese was shut down, the department said. The fires were among more than 80 which started across the country in the past 24 hours, the fire department said. Early on Friday afternoon, several new fires broke out, including one in the seaside resort area of Lagonissi, near Athens, and in Elefsina, where one of Greece's largest oil refineries is located. "The situation is dramatic," said the fire department's Nikos Diamandis on local television. On Taigetos, residents using garden hoses joined 130 firefighters in an attempt to battle the blaze, but two firefighting planes in the area were unable to take off because of strong winds. Three water-dropping helicopters were managing to fly only occasionally, the fire department said. "The helicopters are operating whenever the weather conditions permit. ... The pilots are making incredible efforts," Diamandis said. Greece has suffered one of its worst summers for forest fires this year, with hundreds of blazes burning thousands of hectares of forest and brush land across the country. Athens saw vast swaths of forest and shrubland on three of the four mountains ringing the sprawling capital go up in flames. A weeklong blaze in June devastate large expanses of fir and pine forest in a national park on Mt. Parnitha, on the northwestern fringes of Athens. That fire in particular triggered widespread public anger over the government's response — which many criticized as being inadequate and slow.

Two victims in Greece wildfires

Two people were found dead near a hotel on the outskirts of the town of Areopolis, the fire department said, adding that all local hotels and part of the town had been evacuated.

To the northwest, a massive forest fire on Mt. Taigetos was raging out of control on several fronts, leading authorities to evacuate at least three villages and to declare a state of emergency in two areas.

Several houses were damaged, and a major highway between Sparta and the town of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese was shut down, the department said.

The fires were among more than 80 which started across the country in the past 24 hours, the fire department said. Early on Friday afternoon, several new fires broke out, including one in the seaside resort area of Lagonissi, near Athens, and in Elefsina, where one of Greece's largest oil refineries is located.

"The situation is dramatic," said the fire department's Nikos Diamandis on local television.

On Taigetos, residents using garden hoses joined 130 firefighters in an attempt to battle the blaze, but two firefighting planes in the area were unable to take off because of strong winds. Three water-dropping helicopters were managing to fly only occasionally, the fire department said.

"The helicopters are operating whenever the weather conditions permit. ... The pilots are making incredible efforts," Diamandis said.

Greece has suffered one of its worst summers for forest fires this year, with hundreds of blazes burning thousands of hectares of forest and brush land across the country.

Athens saw vast swaths of forest and shrubland on three of the four mountains ringing the sprawling capital go up in flames.

A weeklong blaze in June devastate large expanses of fir and pine forest in a national park on Mt. Parnitha, on the northwestern fringes of Athens.

That fire in particular triggered widespread public anger over the government's response — which many criticized as being inadequate and slow.

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