Fires extinguished in Athens, government charged
From John HADOULIS (AFP) - 5 hours ago
ATHENS - The fires which ravaged the surroundings of Athens were extinguished Tuesday but the controversy settled on the "errors" of which the press and many inhabitants accuse the government in the management of the disaster.
"The situation has greatly improved, there are no longer any active centers in the Athens region," a spokeswoman for the firefighters told AFP.
The firefighters, she added, however remained mobilized "to ward off any possible resumption of fire" in this region where fires have devastated since Friday nearly 20.000 hectares of forests and agricultural land north-east of the capital, threatening populated areas.
Fires were however still active Tuesday in several regions of Greece.
Air assets were sent to the Mount Kithaironas region, about 70 kilometers west of Athens, and to Evia island (east), where fires were continuing but without threatening homes, according to spokesperson.
Two years after the serious fires of the summer of 2007, which killed 77 people in the country, the press accused the government of incompetence, of having made "fatal mistakes" and ignored the lessons of the past years.
"There is no alibi for the incredible disaster in the Athens region," said To Vima newspaper, accusing the government of having kept the firefighters understaffed by 3.000 people.
To Vima published on the front page a list of ten major fires since 1981, which should have served as a lesson to Greek officials.
The mayors of the ten municipalities affected by the fire repeatedly demanded during the fire the help of aerial means and many residents complained of being abandoned alone in front of the fire by the firefighters, denouncing late rescue and poorly coordinated.
But a firefighter retorted that they could "not do a miracle". "We have not returned home since Friday, our families are worried," he added on a radio, asking "people not to insult us".
The Ethnos newspaper mocked government spokesman Angelos Antonaros for "blaming the pines for the blaze."
"Pines are pretty trees but in a certain sense they are an aggravating factor in the spread of fires," Antonaros said on Monday.
More than 500 men, 132 vehicles and air assets sent by France, Italy, Austria, Cyprus and Turkey fought the fire in the Athens region. Two water bombers sent by Spain were also expected on Tuesday.
In a first provisional assessment for Attica, the Ministry of the Environment and Public Works estimated on Monday about 150 the number of damaged homes.
Teams are due to start an exact inventory of the damage on Tuesday, but the press reports that many homes and properties have been completely destroyed.
A "small number" of people had to be relocated. Two people were injured while a Canadair pilot was recovered at sea near Néa Makri (east) after a failure of one of his floats, according to the authorities.
Fanned by force 7 winds on the Beaufort scale (50 to 60 km / h), these fires are the most serious since those of summer 2007, which had killed 77 people and ravaged more than 250.000 hectares, mainly in the Peloponnese and on the island of Evia.
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