Firefighter Blog

Hello from Athens, Greece.
Feeling totally helpless watching the fires & the people begging for help.
I was wondering, there must be some tips - information for all these people who are stranded in their villages & are fighting the fires on their own.
I was searching the net & came across your blog. If you can help, I would appreciate it. Any info - links, whatever.
Thank you,
Mary
liotropi(at)gmail(dot)com
 

Terrible disaster Mary, I did send email.
Be safe Mary.
 

Hello, i'm from Ioannina - Greece too..
Now, 63 dead people
thousands without home
billions of trees burned
and one goverment who spend money to war systems but not to protect civilianas..

I'm sad about that, but all of us we have to move on and keep our heads up..

sEC-2007@hotmail.com
 

Hello, I am a Greek from Arkadia. Indeed we have to move on, fight the fires and rebuid our country...
We should stop critisizing and act!
And to the Anonymous from Ipiro: Unfortunately with all those "friends" around, Greece DO need a powerful army!

Would you accept (as a greek citizen) a 5% increase in your taxes for the next 20 years to rebuild the country and make it strong and healthy?
(Or we need "our money" for the klarina kai bouzoukia???? like the people in my home-village???)
 

It is outrageous that the Greek political parties have already started planning & developing their communication strategies while widespread fires still rage at the Greek forests. It is unbelievable that Greek people cannot realise that the real culprits are all the politicians who these last 3 decades, despite of the constant threat from forest fires (whether arsonists or not), never allocated enough resources to purchase fire fighting equipment, develop emergency plans, train personnel and generally take all the necessary precautions. The excuse may be that Greece is in great state debt & the budget overstretched but there are always funds for new weapons & arms so a small portion from these money may be life and forest saving! It is unacceptable that these same politicians/families who govern Greece for half a century will again start campaigning for peoples’ votes in the midst of deaths, natural disaster, devastation and anger! Instead of accusing the current government for their inability and play the blame game in general, just think how the state remained helpless in the mercy of foreign & domestic economic interests all these years! Every individual is partly responsible!! So now is the time to wake up & boo all the politicians, now is the time to show them that enough is enough and there is not better time from the elections! In 2 weeks time nobody should appear to vote!! By voting 1 or the other will only strengthen their positions & make them realise how stupid voters are (although they already know it), since they will always have the power despite their faults, incompetence and lies! Despite after this national disaster! Please make them to finally work for the common welfare. Approximately 70 million euros were allocated from public money for the political parties’ election campaigns. Let them first give up immediately their legal budgets (voters money anyway) for the victims and start planning constructively for the short & long-term so we may avoid similar scenes at the future. Then and only then voters should allow them to stand for the elections and ask for their votes! Now leave the meetings and demonstrations aside, abandon the blame game and the couches & go to help those people still under threat, still on fire!!! Did you know that foreign fire-fighters have already exposed the lack of organisation in Greek forces? Did you know that in their interviews at international press agencies state that if there was a coherent plan they could reduce damage to half? It is never too late; there is still time to act! Otherwise until 2020 there will be no single tree in the mountains/forests Greece will become dry & hot like North Africa & Greeks & all Europeans will only have photos to show to their children from those amazing natural places!