UPDATE - Forest Fires Burn Greek Holiday Homes, One Dead
Date: 23-Aug-06
Country: GREECE
Author: Grigoris Siamidis
Police said a German tourist who boarded a boat to escape the approaching blaze on the Halkidiki peninsula, a popular tourist resort near Thessaloniki, drowned and his body recovered some hours later.
Thousands of holidaymakers were forced to flee in the middle of the night by car, boat or on foot as the fire, stretching over 25 kilometres (15 miles), burned large tracts of pristine pine forest and holiday homes near the villages of Polichrono, Hanioti and Pefkohori.
By daybreak locals and tourists helped hundreds of firefighters in their efforts to rein in the fire stretching across a third of the Kassandra region of the peninsula. It was partially under control by midday.
"I have had a house in the area for more than 35 years and I have never seen anything like this," holidaymaker Petros Sagoridis told Reuters by telephone.
"The fire spread so fast. It will take us days to assess what has been burnt down and what not, but the size of it was just unbelievable. Like one huge wall of fire," he said.
More than 1,200 people boarded boats and coastguard vessels to escape, the prefecture of Halkidiki said in a statement.
HUNDREDS EVACUATED
Authorities evacuated about 1,000 people from dozens of hotels, camp sites and children's summer camps, and blocked access to parts of the three-pronged peninsula to allow firetrucks to move freely.
"One person, a German tourist, has died. A few locals have been taken to hospital following minor burns and breathing problems," a police official said.
Firefighters, accused by locals of being slow to react when the fire broke out on Monday evening, tackled the blaze all night, and firefighting planes joined in at sunrise.
The government rejected the claims.
"We express our sorrow for the death of the German tourist," Interior Minister Prokopois Pavlopoulos said. "Whatever needed to be done was done in this fire. There was no delay by the state."
Officials said the fire would soon be contained.
"We are hopeful that the fire will soon be under control," Panagiotis Fourlas, head of civil protection, told reporters. "But the destruction is extensive."
Hoteliers said some guests had started returning after their temporary evacuation.
"There is no more danger to people and there is no reason why they should not return," Halkidiki prefect Argyris Lafazanis said.
Greece is experiencing what is expected to be its hottest week this year and firefighters are battling several forest fires across the country.
