There is no global warming. Its perfectly normal for Greece, a country the size of NJ, to have 87 forest fires at one time and 170 in one summer.
Forest fires kill 44 in Greece
By Vassilis Triandafyllou
Reuters
Saturday, August 25, 2007; 11:33 AM
ZACHARO, Greece (Reuters) - Forest fires sweeping Greece have killed 44 people in two days and more were feared dead in villages cut off by towering flames on Saturday in what the government called a national tragedy.
The worst fires in Greece in decades broke out on Friday on the southern Peloponnese peninsula and have expanded to new fronts, fanned by strong winds and soaring temperatures which have hampered rescue efforts.
"The number of dead has risen to 44 and they all come from the Peloponnese region," said a fire department press office official, who declined to be named.
Rescuers said they found bodies on the side of the road, in burnt homes and in cars, and a mother still clutching her child. Two French tourists were reported to be among the dead.
Forest fires also broke out near Athens on Saturday, forcing the evacuation of homes and a monastery and closing the motorway linking the capital to the main airport for several hours.
"We are deeply saddened about the Peloponnese but this is also devastating," Angeliki Spanou, a resident in the Holargos suburb of Athens, told Greek television.
The blaze advanced to the outskirts of the capital but was now partially under control.
Fire brigades were battling 87 forest fires around the country on Saturday, in "western Greece, the Peloponnese, the island of Evia and the Attica (Athens) region," fire department spokesman Ioannis Stamoulis said.
Soaring temperatures, hot winds, drought and arson have been blamed for the unusual number of forest fires this summer.
Worst hit was the Peloponnese, where dozens of villages have been evacuated while others remain cut off by the flames. Fires in the region stretched some 160 km (100 miles) from the Ionian Sea in the west to Mani in the peninsula's most southern part.
"My village is burning," a resident from Travlos in the Ilia region told Greek television. "There are about 500 people here. We have gathered water in buckets and are waiting for the flames to approach. There is nothing else we can do."
"NATIONAL TRAGEDY"
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