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Southern Europe Braces For More Fires As Arson Suspected
Rome (AFP) July 26, 2007 Three heat-related deaths were reported in Greece Thursday as southern Europe blistered under a devastating heatwave and environmentalists blamed many of the fires raging in Italy on arsonists. Greek authorities said two elderly women were found dead Thursday in the Peloponnese village of Diakofto where a fire was raging for a third day. A 76-year-old man died Wednesday evening in another fire in the village of Mamoussia. The blaze destroyed homes there and in two other towns, Pyrgaki and Melissia. All the residents were evacuated. The inferno broke out in the area some 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Athens on Tuesday and has yet to be brought under control. A dozen other fires were still burning across the country, much of which wilted under temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit). There were major blazes on the islands of Kefalonia and Zakynthos in the Ionian sea, at Chios island in the Aegean, Hydra south of Athens and in Kastoria and Kozani, in the north. Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would send firefighting aircraft to Greece on Friday following a request from the Greek prime minister. Two Greek Canadair pilots have already died while trying to douse a forest fire, as well as three firefighters. In Italy, at least 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) of protected areas have burned in the past three weeks, according to the environmental group WWF, which charged widespread arson. "Most of the fires of the past few days have been of a criminal nature," the WWF said in a statement. "It is well known that fire almost always serves to get rid of trees and other natural obstacles to make way for new hotels, villas or pastures." Public safety chief Guido Bertolaso accused "many cities" of failing to update the property records of areas that are burned. Under Italian law, no new construction is allowed on burned land until 15 years after a fire. WWF said the hardest hit regions were Campania around Naples, in addition to Abruzzo, Calabria, Sicily and Apulia. Meanwhile, the Italian cabinet was due on Friday to proclaim the level of the disaster, a government official said. The Italian Farmers Confederation said that more than 5,000 hectares of farmland had also been destroyed, worth some one billion euros (1.4 billion dollars). In Bulgaria, some 9,500 hectares in the centre and northeast were on fire Thursday, prompting Sofia to seek aid from the European Union, NATO and Russia. A state of emergency was declared Wednesday in the central Kazanlak region and northeastern Dabovo. Temperatures have dropped, but winds are still fanning the fires. In Slovakia, a fire sparked by lightning raged Thursday through the Slovensky Raj national park in the country's east. Authorities have estimated that the damage caused by fires nationwide is about 1.8 million euros. Croatia's Dalmatian coast was ablaze with dozens of fires, and 1,400 tourists and residents were evacuated Wednesday from the island of Solta, where some 400 hectares of forest and olive groves burned down and homes were threatened. Two water-dropping planes were backing up 300 firefighters in that battle. Worst-hit Hungary, where up to 500 people may have died last week from heat-related causes, was enjoying a significant drop in temperatures with the welcome arrival of a cool front.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Forest and Wild Fires - News, Science and Technology
Heatwave Turns Southeastern Europe Into Tinderbox As Fires Rage
Rome (AFP) July 25, 2007Southeastern Europe was a tinderbox Wednesday in the grip of an unrelenting heatwave that has claimed hundreds of lives as wildfires swept Italy and bit into a national park in Slovakia. Italy was sweltering under temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) in places Wednesday and suffering devastating wildfires in central and southern regions. "We've had 85 calls so far already for airborne intervention against fires," a public safety official told AFP in the afternoon as fires raged in the Abruzzo, Latium, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia regions. |
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