Greek forest fire rages near Athens, burns homes

I highly recommend watching the dramatic to say the least live feed:

www.skai.gr...

"I am not able to back this info up with factual evidence but rumor goes that this fire was in fact deliberately set because of construction plans in that neighbourhood."

Of course these fires are organized arson for development of the land, just like in 2007. Greece is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, inhabited by a bunch of hypocritical backstabbing donkeys. These aren't just a few criminals setting these fires. I would guess there are some rich developers and Government officials involved. I just wish the fires were closer to my mother-in-law's home.

Originally posted by SphinxMontreal

Greece is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, inhabited by a bunch of hypocritical backstabbing donkeys.

Every country has corruption issues ... I would suggest that calling my compatriots "donkeys" at this moment in time is insulting, ignorant, and unbelievably out of line.

These people are fighting for their lives as we speak and this is what you have to say?

Karma is a wonderful lady, and in this case she seems to have preempted your insolence by providing you with a Greek mother in law.

[edit on 23 Aug 2009 by schrodingers dog]

Just got off the phone with Greece and it seems that the prime-minister vowed that not one square inch of the affected land will be sold or commercially developed.

what to think of this?

Originally posted by BazzeMan
Just got off the phone with Greece and it seems that the prime-minister vowed that not one square inch of the affected land will be sold or commercially developed.

what to think of this?

That whatever were the plans of the arsonists, they've failed. And that the post by SphinxMontreal is now even more ignorant than it was five minutes ago.

Argh, aaaaaanyway ....

Here are some more updates on this tragic event, the first one also has a video:

Wildfires reach suburbs of Athens
Greek mainland hit by concerted campaign of fires, a "biblical disaster"

reply to post by SphinxMontreal

Greece is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet

Really?
And where abouts is that statement taken from?




ICXC NIKA
helen

Italian, French aircraft to join Greek fire effort

ATHENS: Greece has requested assistance from Italy and France to combat a forest wildfire raging out of control on the outskirts of Athens for a second straight day, the fire department said on Sunday.

"Two fire-fighting aircraft from Italy and one from France will be coming today," a fire department spokeswoman told AFP.

Nearly 400 firefighters struggled on Sunday to contain the wildfire that is feared to have damaged or destroyed scores of rural and summer homes on the eastern outskirts of the Greek capital and further north after surging across a 30-kilometre (18-mile) front on Saturday.

I'm proud that my country is going to do something tangible for our beloved brothers from Greece, you are not alone
Italy has been severely wounded more than once by fires, we DO know what to suffer such a tragedy means, and we also know how important is to know that you are not alone in these moments. At ten kilometers from my home, on July, two people lost their lives: one of them was a shephard trying to rescue his sheeps, they were all that he got: he lost both, sheeps and LIFE
If i'm correct, there should be some emergency plan exactly for this type of situations, set up by Civil Defense, so i guess that everything will be relatively quick.

I dedicate a song by ''Notis Sfakianakis''...well know singer!

From the fires of 2007 in Greece!

Dedicated to all of Greece and all the Greeks all over Gods Earth!



www.youtube.com...

May God hear the faithfulls prayers!

ICXC NIKA
helen

EDIT...You tube?
Hope it works

[edit on 8/23/2009 by helen670]
EDIT ...Third time lucky?

[edit on 8/23/2009 by helen670]

reply to post by helen670


Here you go, Helen:

in order to embed some youtube video, you have to paste what you find after "watch?v="
in this case just S5eidMhYo8E

reply to post by internos




Thanks internos!

Why I cant figure this out, no mtter how many times Im shown!
It must be my stubborn Greek brain that refuses 'technology'

Thanks again!

ICXC NIKA
helen

This is absolutely horrible! My Greek relatives tell me that the governments promise to not let the affected land be developed is just an empty promise.

They have no trust in what the government says and tell me to just wait a few months to see what happens.

What a load of bullcrap, man! How can people be so evil to go out and commit such atrocities just for profit?

I get physically sick from these kind of things...

reply to post by GEORGETHEGREEK


I almost want to pretend it's not happening - there's something about fire - it never stops

it's something we deal with often here in the western states - there's no way to explain how terrifying it is to hear that there's fire just over the next hill

my one and only trip to Europe was to Greece - it was first on my list of dreams from the time I was 12

my time was spent in Athens and the surrounding area - absolutely stunning country - beautiful city

this breaks my heart

I thank all my good friends for helping bring awareness through this thread.
Unfortunatelly i had to be away during the weekend and i just came back in a state of exhaustion... I do not have the physical strain to go through the thread right now but i will after a good nights sleep in order to catch up with the discussion.

For the time being i will just update you in that the situation is still quite dramatic in a number of places....

Take care all!
GTG

Thanks for the updates and link..

... I am just seeing this on the headlines today.. any news to share?

Russia to send water-dropping planes to Greece

Moscow / 24/08/09 / 10:50

Russia is sending additional firefighting aircraft to help Greece combat the raging wildfires, Emergencies Ministry said on Monday.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry to send its Illyushin Il-76 and Be-200 airplanes to help fight the wildfires raging in Greece.

Earlier, two giant fire-fighter planes and three helicopters were sent following an appeal made by Greek prime minister.

Russia has already sent one helicopter Mi-26 packed with special fire-fighting equipment. Il-76 is can deliver up to 42 tons of water per drop. /end/

The National Intelligence Services should give the government the middle finger and hunt those responsible, then throw them into the fires they started.

If the government want's to get in the way of dishing out justice to those responsible, throw the incompetent politicians into the fires too.

I know George I've said in another place that there may be other possibilities besides developers, but who ever is responsible, should be dealt with.


What would be even sweeter justice, if it turns out that developers are truly to blame, would be local residents whose houses burnt down, setting fire to the developers new developments on former forests.

Hi/
A friend of my mums has the Greek news on satelite(dont know what channel)there are suspicians about the fires being deliberately lit ....I wont say what I heard,as the news is third hand.

(maybe the Greeks should read Agios Kosmas prophecies)

ICXC NIKA
helen

It seems that the situation is getting better:

Athens fires driven back, nuns rescued
A multinational effort appears to be bringing fires under control. But Greece's conservative government may suffer anyway over its handling of the crisis.
By Dan Murphy | Staff writer 08.24.09

The efforts of thousands of Greek firefighters and soldiers combined with firefighting planes dispatched by Italy and France made progress against the worst wildfires around Athens in two years, creating optimism in Greece that the Athens suburbs are safe.

But the electoral chances of Greece’s conservative government, expected to face a new election next March, could suffer. In an election shortly after Greece’s 2007 fires, the conservatives’ majority in parliament was eroded, in part because of public anger at the handling of that crisis.

In the two years since, Greece has not added to its fleet of 21 fire-fighting planes. As the fires gathered steam over the weekend, some mayors were reduced to calling TV stations and appealing for firefighting help, exposing a slow, poorly coordinated firefighting response from the government that echoed 2007.

Reuters reports that morning winds on Monday had stoked the blazes that have been raging in Attica – the region that includes Athens’ 4 million residents – for days, until Greek firefighting planes were joined by foreign forces, repeatedly dive-bombing the fronts with fire retardants.