Forest fires in Attica 2018
Region of forest fires in Greece 2018 |
The forest fires in Attica in 2018 affected three areas in the Greek region of Attica about 25 kilometers east and 30 kilometers west of Athens from July 23, 2018 . As of December 15, 2018, 100 confirmed fatalities and 170 injuries sustained.
In total, around 68 square kilometers of bushes, wooded areas and housing developments were destroyed. Particularly affected were the south Gerania MOUNTAINS the coastal town Kineta in the town of Megara in West Attica , as well as in East Attica Neos Voutzas , the coastal town of Mati town of Nea Makri and the district Kokkino Limanaki in the northern port city of Rafina . 26 bodies were recovered on a steep slope in the courtyard of a villa in Mati.
Disaster management
The governor of the Attica region, Rena Dourou , declared a state of emergency on East and West Attica on the afternoon of July 23, 2018. Also on the same evening, the Greek government applied for EU support through the EU civil protection mechanism . Italy and Romania sent four planes, and Cyprus firefighters from Spain, Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta and Montenegro, and there were offers of help in the form of fire-fighting planes, vehicles, medical personnel and firefighters. Then the Cypriot traveled EU - European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Christos Stylianides the same evening to Athens to meet with Greek civil protection authorities and to coordinate EU aid. In order to provide the authorities with highly specialized maps, the European Union's Copernicus earth observation program was activated.
The following countries have offered their help:
- Albania - Emergency aid of 100,000 euros
- Australia - support when needed
- Armenia - support when needed
- Bulgaria
- Germany
- France
- Georgia
- Israel
- Italy - Two fire-fighting aircraft of the type Canadair CL-415
- Croatia - Two fire-fighting aircraft of the type Canadair CL-415
- Malta
- Macedonia - emergency aid of 6,000,000 denars (around 100,000 euros)
- Montenegro
- Austria
- Poland - Two units of the state fire protection service were deployed to accompany the rescue and fire-fighting operation.
- Portugal - offered assistance from 50 firefighters, in line with the framework of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism
- Romania - A C-27 J Spartan aircraft with fire fighting equipment and a C-130 Hercules for logistical support and 20 soldiers
- Russia
- Serbia
- Switzerland
- Spain - Two Canadair CL-415 fire-fighting aircraft
- Czech Republic
- Turkey
- Hungary
- United States - monitoring of forest fires drones to erupting fire to locate quickly and fight.
- Cyprus - fire trucks, staff and financial aid of 10,000,000 euros
Victim
On December 15, 2018, 100 deaths were confirmed, including 47 women, 42 men and 11 children (including one infant). The identity of two male victims could not be clarified because the people had not been reported missing. The youngest victim was six months old, the oldest 95 years old. Among the victims were 95 Greeks, a Polish woman with her child, 1 Irish , 1 Belgian and 1 Georgian .
In the days after the fire, the bodies of 83 burnt victims were recovered, who had been burned, suffocated, drowned while trying to escape the fire, or died. Originally, 187 injured were admitted to the local hospitals, including 164 adults and 23 children. Eleven patients were reported to be life threatening.
By August 14, the death toll rose almost daily to a total of 96 dead, as more injured people died in the hospitals. A 78-year-old man died on August 27, an 83-year-old woman three days later, a 26-year-old man on September 11, and a 73-year-old man on December 15, which resulted in 17 deaths in the hospital. On September 11th, 17 adults were hospitalized in hospitals, three of whom were intubated.
Theories on the cause of the fire
On July 26, 2018, the mayor of Pendeli municipality in Ostattika, Dimitris Stergiou, suggested that the fire at Mati was caused by a severed power cable.
On the same day, Deputy Minister for Civil Protection, Nikos Toskas, said that both fires were most likely caused by arson. With regard to the fire at Mati, there were testimonies that point to arson: "Here too there are not only indications, but also signs of arson," said Toskas. For reasons of tactical investigations, he initially did not provide any details. Furthermore, satellite images should show that the fire in West Attica near Kineta broke out in several places along a street within a short time.
On August 21, 2018, experts from the Greek fire brigade assumed that the fire east of Athens was caused by a local resident - he had burned dry branches on his property and then did not properly extinguish the fire. Strong winds would have fanned the embers and started the spread of the fire.
Statistical significance of the accident
It is the second worst forest fire accident ever recorded in Europe. The catastrophe is only exceeded by the forest fire at Kurscha-2 in what is now Ryazan Oblast in central Russia , which occurred on August 3, 1936 and claimed 1,200 lives . It is also the second worst forest fire in the 21st century after the 2009 Victoria bush fire . In addition, only five forest fires that claimed more lives occurred in the previous 100 years - besides the ones already mentioned, these were the Cloquet fire in 1918, the forest fire in the Great Hinggan Mountains in 1987 and the forest fires in Indonesia in 1997 .
After the forest fires in summer 2007 , it was the second serious forest fire disaster in Greece within a few years. At that time, 84 people died within several months, 67 of them in August of that year. Ostattika has been repeatedly affected by forest fires since the second half of the 20th century. The fires in 1995 (100 km²) and 1998 (75 km²) caused particularly severe damage to the Pendeli. In the forest fire year 2007, 10 km² were destroyed. In the area between Rafina, Kallitechnoupoli and Neos Voutzas, 10 km² were already burned in 2005.
Continue
On July 24, 2018, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras proclaimed a three-day state mourning. At a crisis meeting in his cabinet on July 26, 2018, Tsipras assumed political responsibility, whereupon the opposition demanded his resignation. Basketball player Ioannis Gagaloudis called for a peaceful demonstration in memory of the victims of the fire in Mati in front of the Athens parliament on Syntagma Square . At the end of July 2018, the Board of Directors of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation decided to make a donation of 25 million euros to support the Greek fire service for prevention and training measures. Deputy Interior Minister and former Lieutenant General Nikolaos Toskas, responsible for civil protection, fire brigade and police, announced his resignation on August 3, 2018.
On August 7, 2018, Prime Minister Tsipras announced 20 direct measures to protect and control the built environment of Attica and Greece. Among other things, 3200 buildings are planned to be demolished in the Attica region, which were erected near the coast, in streams or in forest areas without a building permit. The controls of fences at a distance of 500 meters from the coastal area outside the construction plan will be strengthened and the demolition procedures accelerated. This is intended to implement a law passed in 1983 on the initiative of Antonis Tritsis .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c https://m.naftemporiki.gr/story/1424664
- ↑ a b c https://www.cnn.gr/news/ellada/story/146378/fotia-mati-stoys-99-oi-nekroi-ypekypse-mia-egkaymatias
- ↑ a b https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/816754/alert-98-oi-nekroi-apo-ti-fotia-sto-mati/
- ↑ 97 deaths after forest fires in Greece South Tyrol Online , August 27, 2018
- ↑ a b c Φωτιά στο Μάτι: Στους 96 οι νεκροί - Πέθανε 68χρονος στο ΚΑΤ . Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ↑ Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping Activated for Forest Fires in Attika, Greece Earth observation program Copernicus European Union
- ↑ Giorgos Christides: Das Inferno by Mati Spiegel Online from July 25, 2018, accessed on July 26, 2018.
- ↑ Fires out of control in Greece - dozens die in flames in Athens Focus Online July 24, 2018, accessed July 26, 2018.
- ↑ Σε κατάσταση έκτακτης ανάγκης η Ανατολική και η Δυτική Αττική (Greek)
- ↑ EU increases aid to Greece to fight forest fires European Commission, 25 July 2018
- ↑ EU mobilises support following devastating fires in Greece, Sweden and Latvia. European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, July 24, 2018
- ^ The Copernicus Emergency Management Service Monitors Forest Fires in Attica, Greece , Copernicus Earth Observation Program, July 26, 2018
- ↑ Wildfires, Albanian Government Offers EUR 100,000 to Greece .
- ↑ Australia to help Greece in wildfires aftermath .
- ↑ Armenia ready to provide wildfire emergency assistance to Greece if requested .
- ↑ a b c EU mobilises further support against devastating fires in Greece .
- ↑ a b c d e Jon Sharman: Greece wildfires latest: European countries send fire-fighting planes amid desperate attempts to stop deadly blazes spreading . In: The Independent .
- ↑ a b c d e Ποιες χώρες ανταποκρίθηκαν στις εκκλήσεις της Ελλάδας για βοήθεια .
- ↑ Israel offers aid to Greece as wildfires rage near Athens , Jpost Inc ..
- ^ 2 Italy Canadairs to leave for Greece .
- ^ The Latest: Desperate Greeks search for missing after fires .
- ^ The Latest: Desperate Greeks search for missing after fires .
- ↑ Greece wildfires: Polish president extends condolences .
- ↑ Portugal disponibilizou-se ajudar no combate a incêndios na Grécia (pt) .
- ↑ Porţile Infernului s-au deschis lângă Atena: incendiile au ucis cel puţin 74 de oameni .
- ↑ Putin offers Greece help in combating wildfires .
- ↑ Κύπρος και Ισπανία συνδράμουν την Ελλάδα - Έτοιμες να βοηθήσουν Τουρκία, Βουλγαρία, ρραυ γαρία .
- ↑ The Latest: Greece says Italian planes helping firefight .
- ↑ Φωτιά στην Αττική: Αμερικάνικα Drones συλλέγουν πληροφορίες .
- ↑ Οικονομική βοήθεια ύψους 10 εκ. ευρώ προς Ελλάδα από Κύπρο .
- ↑ a b c Φωτιά στο Μάτι: Αυτή είναι η λίστα των νεκρών . protothema. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
- ↑ Φωτιά στο Μάτι: Στους 95 οι νεκροί - Πέθανε 63χρονος στο ΚΑΤ . protothema. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
- ↑ Φωτιά στο Μάτι: Στους 96 οι νεκροί - Πέθανε 68χρονος στο ΚΑΤ . Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ↑ https://www.protothema.gr/greece/article/810770/fotia-sto-mati-stous-91-oi-nekroi-katelixe-95hroni-egaumatias/
- ↑ http://gr.euronews.com/2018/08/30/stous-98-oi-nekroi-apo-thn-pyrkagia-sto-mati
- ↑ Δήμαρχος Πεντέλης στον Realfm 97.8: H φωτιά ξεκίνησε από ένα κομμένο καλώδιο της ΔΕΗ (Greek)
- ↑ https://www.zeit.de/gesellschaft/2018-07/waldbraende-athen-griechenland-moegliche-brandstiftung
- ↑ Forest fires near Athens: residents are said to have triggered a disaster. In: Spiegel Online . August 21, 2018, accessed October 7, 2018 .
- ↑ Смирнова Ю., Волошин В. В 1936 году в СССР от жары и пожаров умирали тысячами. Но об этом никто не знал // Комсомольская правда от August 14, 2010.
- ↑ Курша-2: огненный шквал.
- ↑ http://www.efsyn.gr/arthro/i-deyteri-pio-foniki-pyrkagia-ston-21o-aiona-pagkosmios
- ↑ Jamie Macwhirter: Greece fire: New aerial video shows DEVASTATION caused by blaze as death toll increases Expres dated July 24, 2018, accessed on July 26, 2018.
- ↑ 30 χρόνια: πρώτα φωτιά, μετά ... βίλες. Eleftherotypia , July 24, 2018 (Greek)
- ↑ 40 χρόνια φωτιές στην Αν. Αττική. Ef.Syn, July 24, 2018 (Greek)
- ↑ Δήλωση για τις πυρκαγιές στην Αττική primeminister.gr, July 24, 2018 (Greek)
- ↑ Tsipras takes political responsibility for forest fires Deutsche Welle, July 27, 2018
- ↑ Political controversy after forest fire: "Cynicism" and "Political Games". Greece Newspaper, July 30, 2018
- ↑ Remembrance of forest fire victims in front of parliament. Greece Newspaper, July 31, 2018
- ↑ Emergency Grant Totaling € 25 Million to Support the Hellenic Fire Department and Prevention & Training Initiatives , July 31, 2018. Stavros Niarchos Foundation, July 31, 2018
- ↑ After forest fire in Attica: Minister for the protection of citizens resigns Greece newspaper, August 6, 2018
- ↑ «Οφείλουμε να χτυπήσουμε τη γροθιά στο μαχαίρι και να ξηλώσουμε στρεβλώσεις και παθογένεις παθλς in Greek, August 7th, 2018 primότ παθογένεις παθλς» August 7th πθister πευ παθλς in Greek, August 7th, ποθister παθλgr.