Wildfires-Greece

[NJFFSA16]

ATHENS, July 21 (Reuters) - More than 100 firefighters
battled to bring two forest fires under control in Greece on
Monday, fighting to keep the flames away from homes and a hotel
complex, officials said.
One fire burned fiercely near the Aghia Marina district of
Attica, about 55 km (35 miles) southeast of Athens, fanned by
strong winds and hot, tinderbox conditions, a fire brigade
official said. No injuries were immediately reported.
"It seems to be a very big fire and it is very windy,"
Leonidas Kouris, a local official, told state television. "The
fire is spreading on a number of fronts... Several homes are in
danger," he said.
A separate forest fire in the Peloponnese, east of Corinth,
started at around midday and briefly threatened the nearby
Kalamaki Beach Hotel, before being brought under control.
The fire official said more than 100 firefighters equipped
with 20 fire engines, a helicopter and two firefighting planes
were battling to extinguish the blazes.
Temperatures of 34 degrees Celsius (93F) combined with
strong winds have aggravated the forest fires, which are not
unusual in Greece during the summer months.

Reut11:10 07-21-03

[NJFFSA16]

ATHENS, July 7 (Reuters) - One person died as Greek
firefighters fought to bring a large blaze under control on
Wednesday in the Mount Parnitha forest region north of Athens,
with a number of homes already destroyed.
A police spokesman said the man, aged between 40 and 50, was
found dead, though the exact cause of death was not known.
Firefighters said the blaze was not expected to threaten the
Olympic Village, home for 16,000 athletes and team officials
during the August 13-29 Summer Games, located on the slopes of
Mount Parnitha.
"We are facing a difficult and dangerous situation that is
aggravated by strong winds," said a fire brigade official.
Four helicopters and six firefighting planes were spraying
water on the fire as 100 firefighters and 50 fire engines
tackled the blaze, officials said.
The cause of the fire was not known.
A fire brigade spokesman said the Olympic Village, about
three to four km (miles) away was "not in danger at the moment."
REUTERS

[budthespud]

Greece uses the Bombardier scooper, an airplane
the US would never buy from Canada.

Comments following Greece's 100 year-worst struggle
with wildfire in 1998, where the IL-76 waterbomber made its
'western' debut (outside Russia), were to the effect that
Greek fire services were a mess. Disorganized.

Western media coverage of the debut of the Il-76 waterbomber
was non-existant. Nobody would cover it. Not the BBC;
not CNN; not anybody but the Greeks.

What was the upshot of the Greek Il-76 waterbomber performance then, when aircraft from five (5) different nations' firefighting
aircraft (includes C-130s) were wind-grounded while the
far bigger, heavier IL-76 waterbomber flew out on missions?

Greek papers called it a miracle
and the aircraft that saved Greece.

The IL-76 performed one of its miracles in
mountainous terrain, something the US Forest Service
doesn't want you to know. It also saved the only remaining
pine forest outside Athens from complete destruction.

It is shameful in the extreme that the US Forest Service/
Bureau of Land Management/Secretary of the Interior refuse
to acknowledge that the Il-76 is the best disaster-mitigating
firefighting aircraft in the world.

There are some terrific photos of the airplane here:
http://www.checksix.de/html/body_solodemos.html