Mati (Attica)

Mati
Μάτι

Basic data

Greece

Attica

Nea Makri

Geographic coordinates

38 ° 3 ′ N , 24 ° 0 ′ E Coordinates: 38 ° 3 ′ N , 24 ° 0 ′ E

Residents

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Mati ( Greek Μάτι ( n. Sg. )) Is a district of the small town of Nea Makri in the south of the Greek municipality of Marathon . Mati is located between the national road 83 in the west and the east coast of Attica about 26 km from the center of Athens . The settlement is laid out in a forest of Aleppo pines as planned with streets running at right angles. Without any recognizable structural separation, the Kokkino Limanaki district borders the port city of Rafina in the south .

In 1940 Mati counted 48 inhabitants when it was recognized as a settlement in the rural community of Nea Makri. In the following censuses, 49 inhabitants were recorded in Mati in 1951 and 99 inhabitants for 1961. Since the incorporation into the small town of Nea Makri in 1971, no more population figures were published in censuses.

Up until the forest fires in 2018 , summer tourism was the most important economic factor. Since then, Mati has been considered non-habitable, 98% of the place has been destroyed.

Forest fire on July 23, 2018

According to the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, the forest fire risk index for 23 July 2018 was given on a 5-point scale with risk level 4 "very high" ( πολύ υψηλή polý ypsilí ). At the same time, sustained high temperatures of up to 40 ° C were predicted in the eastern and southern parts of the country as well as strong to stormy winds for most mainland regions. Warnings were given about the increased risk of forest fires and the spread of fires.

For reasons that are still unknown, a forest fire broke out on July 23, 2018 in the woods on Pendeli around the settlement of Kallitechnoupoli. The fire brigade was informed of the fire at 4:57 p.m. and responded by dispatching 60 people to 24 vehicles, 15 vehicles with volunteers, 2 ground crews as well as 3 Canadair fire-fighting planes and a helicopter. Because of the extreme weather conditions, the fire from Kallitechnoupoli spread eastward to Neos Voutzas and Rafina. The fire developed into a crown fire with heavy smoke development. Supported by very strong winds with a speed of around 90 km / h, the fire crossed the four-lane Leoforos Marathonas and within a very short time moved to the coast of Mati, where the fire front reached around 1 km. The residents and many visitors to the area hardly had time to react.

Map of the fire area of Kallitechnoupoli, Neos Voutzas, Kokkino Limanaki and Mati

The Mati disaster is seen as a typical fire in the transition zone from settlement area to forest vegetation. It is in these areas that there is the highest probability of human loss in the world. The interaction of high wind speeds in connection with the topography caused the fire to spread rapidly. Strong westerly winds of over 90 km / h between 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. led to a significant increase in temperature to over 37 ° C with low humidity and favored the rapid spread of the fire from the slopes of the Pendeli into lower elevations towards the coast. In several areas the gusts reached top speeds of 100 to 120 km / h. For the distance of about 5.5 km from the place of the outbreak to the coast near Mati, the fire took about 1½ hours, whereby the fire spread faster and faster towards the coast and took between 20 and 30 minutes after crossing the Odos Marathonas in Mati corresponds to a speed of more than 4 km / h. The topography along the coast between Rafina and Nea Makri favors strong winds.

Using satellite data from the European Union's Copernicus earth observation program , the fire area is given as approx. 12.8 km². In the area, 1,220 buildings were completely destroyed and 305 vehicles were burned.

At the end of August, DNA tests were used to identify 83 corpses and 15 people died from their injuries in hospital. Another 14 burn victims were treated in hospitals. The Mati fire killed 100 people.

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos granted Greek citizenship to two Egyptian and one Albanian fishermen for their selfless efforts to save fire victims .

literature

Efthymios Lekkas, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Stylianos Lozios (Eds.): Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies. The July 2018 Attica (Central Greece) Wildfires. University of Athens, National Observatory Athens, Athens August 2018, p. 51. PDF Online (English, Greek)

Individual evidence

^ Population of Mati 1940–1961, Greek Statistical Office ELSTAT, digital library
↑ Κεντρική Ένωση Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων Ελλάδας (ΚΕΔΚΕ) Ελληνική Εταιρία Τοπικής Ανάπτυξης και Αυτοδιοίκησης (ΕΕΤΑΑ) (ed.): Λεξικό Διοικητικών Μεταβολών των Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων (1912-2001). Volume 2, (Τόμος Β, λ – ω), Athens 2002, ISBN 960-7509-47-1 , p. 194. (Greek)
↑ Florian Schmitz: Greece after the fire: Who is responsible? Deutsche Welle from July 26, 2018
↑ Κορυφώνεται η αγωνία για τους αγνοούμενους, στους 81 οι νεκροί. Kathimerini from July 25, 2018 (Greek)
↑ Ημερήσιος Χάρτης Πρόβλεψης Κινδύνου Πυρκαγιάς 23/07/2018 Γενική Γραμματεία Πολιτικής Προστασίας, from July 23, 2018 (Greek)
↑ Υψηλές θερμοκρασίες στα νότια, πτώση στα βόρεια, σκόνη, καταιγίδες και ισχυροί άνεα/07μοι τη Δευ .τέρ 23/07 National Observatory Athens (meteo.gr) forecast for July 23, 2018 (Greek)
↑ Efthymios Lekkas, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Stylianos Lozios (eds.): Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies. The July 2018 Attica (Central Greece) Wildfires. 2018, p. 49 f.
↑ Στους 97 οι νεκροί από την πυρκαγιά στην αν. Αττική. Υπέκυψε ένας 76χρονος. AMNA August 27, 2018 (Greek)
↑ Υπέκυψε 73χρονος εγκαυματίας από τη φωτιά στο Μάτι. AMNA December 15, 2018 (Greek)
↑ Και επίσημα η ελληνική ιθαγένεια στους μετανάστες ψαράδες για την ηρωική προσφορά τους στο Μάτι August 27, 2018 (Greek AMNA); Greek Presidency January 2, 2019 (Greek)

Web links

Commons : Mati - collection of images, videos and audio files

Οι πέντε βασικές αιτίες που οδήγησαν στην εθνική τραγωδία στο Μάτι. CNN Greece from August 1, 2018 (Greek)
Πυρκαγιά Ανατολικής Αττικής: Λεπτομερής απεικόνιση του ανέμου. National Observatory Athens (Greek)

[1] Population of Mati 1940–1961, Greek Statistical Office ELSTAT, digital library

[2] Κεντρική Ένωση Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων Ελλάδας (ΚΕΔΚΕ) Ελληνική Εταιρία Τοπικής Ανάπτυξης και Αυτοδιοίκησης (ΕΕΤΑΑ) (ed.): Λεξικό Διοικητικών Μεταβολών των Δήμων και Κοινοτήτων (1912-2001). Volume 2, (Τόμος Β, λ – ω), Athens 2002, ISBN 960-7509-47-1 , p. 194. (Greek)

[3] Florian Schmitz: Greece after the fire: Who is responsible? Deutsche Welle from July 26, 2018

[4] Κορυφώνεται η αγωνία για τους αγνοούμενους, στους 81 οι νεκροί. Kathimerini from July 25, 2018 (Greek)

[5] Ημερήσιος Χάρτης Πρόβλεψης Κινδύνου Πυρκαγιάς 23/07/2018 Γενική Γραμματεία Πολιτικής Προστασίας, from July 23, 2018 (Greek)

[6] Υψηλές θερμοκρασίες στα νότια, πτώση στα βόρεια, σκόνη, καταιγίδες και ισχυροί άνεα/07μοι τη Δευ .τέρ 23/07 National Observatory Athens (meteo.gr) forecast for July 23, 2018 (Greek)

[7] Efthymios Lekkas, Nikolaos Voulgaris, Stylianos Lozios (eds.): Newsletter of Environmental, Disaster, and Crisis Management Strategies. The July 2018 Attica (Central Greece) Wildfires. 2018, p. 49 f.

[8] Στους 97 οι νεκροί από την πυρκαγιά στην αν. Αττική. Υπέκυψε ένας 76χρονος. AMNA August 27, 2018 (Greek)

[9] Υπέκυψε 73χρονος εγκαυματίας από τη φωτιά στο Μάτι. AMNA December 15, 2018 (Greek)

[10] Και επίσημα η ελληνική ιθαγένεια στους μετανάστες ψαράδες για την ηρωική προσφορά τους στο Μάτι August 27, 2018 (Greek AMNA); Greek Presidency January 2, 2019 (Greek)