2009 Greek forest fires
Encyclopedia
The 2009 Greek forest fires were a series of massive wildfire
s that broke out across several areas in Greece during the summer of 2009. The fires began in Grammatiko
, about twenty-five miles north-east of the Greek capital, Athens on 21 August 2009 and spread quickly towards the suburbs, engulfing fourteen towns within the next three days. 10,000 residents of Agios Stefanos
were asked to evacuate the area. Approximately 600 firefighters and soldiers, twelve fire-fighting aircraft and nine helicopters were deployed to extinguish the fire. These fires are the worst since 2007
, though no casualties have been reported.
s of pine forest, olive
groves, shrub land and farmland. The fires affected 15 municipalities and communities and destroyed 60 homes, damaging another 150. The fires began in Grammatiko village, about 40 km north-east of Athens, and spread to the mountains of eastern Attika. Around 72 houses were damaged in Grammatiko and other badly hit communities were Stamata
and Rodopoli
.
More than 1,000 fire-fighters and soldiers were placed on duty over the weekend, and a total of 19 planes and helicopters worked to fight the fires, dropping around 14,000 tonnes of water on one day alone (24 August 2009). Aircraft were drafted-in from Italy
, France
and Cyprus
. The cost of hiring the fire services 14 helicopters for about 120 flying hours is estimated at 30 million euros.
According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Greece, The destruction from three days of intense forest fires “confirms the inability of the state to effectively manage the country’s forests”. Unlike the 2007 Greek forest fires
, the 2009 fires took place in eastern Attika, which is a forested-suburban region known for its illegal ribbon development, where thousands of illegal homes have been legalised ahead of successive elections by incumbent governments. This area is also expected to undergo further development and population increase as a result of new urban plans for the area.
Gavril Xanthopoulos, a scientist at the Greek Forest Research Institute in Athens, and one of the country’s leading forest fire experts is quoted as saying: “These areas are what we call a wildland-urban interface, which are not just peculiar to Greece, but exist in all European Mediterranean countries”. The mix of homes and forest can drain fire resources, because the fight is targeted at burning homes and property, allowing forest fires to spread faster. Xanthopoulos claims to have alerted civil protection authorities a fortnight before the fires warning that the drought in vegetation had reached the levels of 2007, that there was an extreme likelihood of fires occurring and that this was reflected in the area’s fire danger map. The meltemi
winds, typical of this time of year made the fires head south, which was a predictable trajectory for the fire.
WWF has called for radical reform of the fire service, which has been weakened, since 1981, by political interference in recruitment and promotion, bureaucratisation, the removal of fire-fighting responsibilities from the forestry service and abolition of the dasokommando, which is a Greek specialised fire-fighting unit. According to Konstantinos Liarikos, environmental programme director of WWF, part of the existing fire service needs to be especially dedicated to forest fire-fighting, and emphasis should be on suppression rather than prevention: the cost of hiring an Erickson Air-Crane
Helitanker fire-fighting helicopter is 800,000 euros a season, and is equivalent to the cost of hiring 800 seasonal fire-fighters, which WWF claims would be more effective. In addition, citizen awareness programmes are needed to educated suburban residents about fire prevention and fire-fighting. For example, the connection of electric pumps to swimming pools to help residents to use water for dousing fires. Planting fire-resistant tree species in gardens, such as bay laurel
, poplar
, acacia
and oak
, can also help save homes. In 2007, fires spread more slowly in rural areas of the Peloponnese
where a farming population kept areas well-managed and clear of grass.
Countless animals have perished in the fires, tortoise
s being the most easily visible, due to their burnt-out shells. Birds and faster-moving animals can flee, but will now over-burden nearby eco-systems. Surviving animals may suffer from burns and smoke inhalation.
Re-colonisation of burnt areas will be slow, commencing with insects, lizards and birds, with hares, partridges and foxes only arriving after the first rain has led to new growth. Lack of forest cover will make it easier for predators to locate certain prey species.
The Association for the Protection and Welfare of Wildlife (Anima) operate a 24-hour call centre at telephone: 210-951-0075 or 6972 664 675 (www.wild-anima.gr) for animal casualties.
were not directly damaged, although the physical setting of the sites has been destroyed. The sites include the Marathon battle site, Tomb of the Marathon Warriors, the Marathon Museum, Tomb of the Plataeans, and Ramnous.
The sites were saved, due to the fight of local residents during the night of 23–24 August, and the assistance of a northerly wind that helped contain the fires and avoid catastrophe to the ancient monuments and ecologically important area of Schinias. Marathon residents had already been fighting the construction of a land-fill site outside Grammatiko.
The burnt areas of forest appear to be unmonitored by forest patrols. There are only 49 forest guards in Attica, which means that each guard must patrol an area of 83,000 stremma
ta. The total forested extent of Attica is 3,500,000 stremmata. In some areas, olive trees have been planted within the burnt forest areas. This is one of the first illegal steps in transforming unmonitored forested areas into cultivated land.
Mr Nikos Chlikas, a forester and environmentalist, has emphasised that about 90,000 to 100,000 stremmata in north-east Attica have been burnt for a second or third time, out of the total of 210,000 stremmata, which was burnt in August 2009. In these areas, it is essential that there is intervention by the authorities to help forest regeneration because the pine trees are very young and do not have the capacity to create cones. This forest cannot regenerate by itself. In addition, the number of small trees which are, at the moment, in the nursery at Amigdales will have difficulty covering 3,000-4,000 stremmata, for this reason money needs to be allocated for new trees, so that planting can take place over the next few years. According to Nikos Chlikas, the cost of reforestation is around 500 euro for each stremma, including the cost of caring for the trees for at least two years. However, in 2008 less than 10,000 stremmata were reforested in te whole of Greece.
As part of the post-fire protection work, the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (Το Γεωτεχνικό Επιμελητήριο Ελλάδας (ΓΕΩΤ.Ε.Ε.)) with the aim of taking measures to protect the area have placed logs and matted branches along the ground in burnt forest areas, in order to slow down runoff and so reduce erosion. In some areas, cement dam
s have been constructed at some points, although experts question the logic of this, and claim that it is an excessive intervention into the environment. In the secondary and tertiary burnt areas there are, however, insufficient logs of the right size for creating barriers to run-off erosion. Mr Antonis Angelopoulos, a geologist and vice-president of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, Eastern Mainland Greece section, agrees that some of the interventions into the environment have been excessive. For example, in Agia Varvara, the permanent cement structures that have been made were probably unnecessary, because the area has already got at least two old, stone dams, which could have been recycled. However, on the gulley of Agiou Stefanou, the anti-runoff work has been positive, because dams have been constructed from boxes made out of wire. This is friendlier to the environment, because these dams hold back rain-washed matter, but allow water to pass through.
, Tina Birbili
, has created a new draft bill which was announced on 27 October 2009. This legislation would suspend all construction activity on burned forestland in Attica
and other parts of Greece until authorities draw up comprehensive forest maps. The ban will be imposed on the issuing of construction licences except for the repair of homes and public buildings destroyed in the fires.
The Hellenic Mapping and Cadastral Organization (HEMCO), established in 1986, will soon start operating a sophisticated system of forest land on the outskirts of Attica, with the aim of reporting back to the authorities the appearance of every new structure outside the town plan.
The bill is to be submitted to the Greek Parliament
in the first week of November 2009 and provides for the creation of a special state agency which will demolish illegally built homes on burned forest land and fine offenders. The ministry’s environmental inspectors would have the responsibility of locating and demolishing illegal constructions. The 2003 reform introduced by the former Agriculture Minister
Giorgos Drys, under PASOK's previous administration, which required at least one-quarter of a piece of land must be covered by forest for it to qualify as forest land. The new bill will reinstate the original 15% requirement.
Wildfire
A wildfire is any uncontrolled fire in combustible vegetation that occurs in the countryside or a wilderness area. Other names such as brush fire, bushfire, forest fire, desert fire, grass fire, hill fire, squirrel fire, vegetation fire, veldfire, and wilkjjofire may be used to describe the same...
s that broke out across several areas in Greece during the summer of 2009. The fires began in Grammatiko
Grammatiko
Grammatiko is a Greek village in east Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Marathon, of which it is a municipal unit.It lies approximately northeast of Athens, and north of Marathon and Nea Makri...
, about twenty-five miles north-east of the Greek capital, Athens on 21 August 2009 and spread quickly towards the suburbs, engulfing fourteen towns within the next three days. 10,000 residents of Agios Stefanos
Agios Stefanos
Agios Stefanos is a rather exclusive suburb in Attica, Greece, about 23 km north of Athens. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dionysos, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit.Agios Stefanos is almost entirely residential, but a few shops line its main...
were asked to evacuate the area. Approximately 600 firefighters and soldiers, twelve fire-fighting aircraft and nine helicopters were deployed to extinguish the fire. These fires are the worst since 2007
2007 Greek forest fires
The 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007. The most destructive and lethal infernos broke out on August 23, expanded rapidly and raged out of control until August 27, until they were put out in early...
, though no casualties have been reported.
Background and result of destruction from the fire
The fires of 2009 began on the night of August 21, 2009 and burned over the next four days, covering approximately 21,000 hectareHectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...
s of pine forest, olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
groves, shrub land and farmland. The fires affected 15 municipalities and communities and destroyed 60 homes, damaging another 150. The fires began in Grammatiko village, about 40 km north-east of Athens, and spread to the mountains of eastern Attika. Around 72 houses were damaged in Grammatiko and other badly hit communities were Stamata
Stamata
Stamata is a community of the Greek prefecture of East Attica. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dionysos, of which it is a municipal unit....
and Rodopoli
Rodopoli
Rodopoli , older name Bala , is an old community in Attica, Greece - about 22 km north of Athens...
.
More than 1,000 fire-fighters and soldiers were placed on duty over the weekend, and a total of 19 planes and helicopters worked to fight the fires, dropping around 14,000 tonnes of water on one day alone (24 August 2009). Aircraft were drafted-in from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The cost of hiring the fire services 14 helicopters for about 120 flying hours is estimated at 30 million euros.
According to World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Greece, The destruction from three days of intense forest fires “confirms the inability of the state to effectively manage the country’s forests”. Unlike the 2007 Greek forest fires
2007 Greek forest fires
The 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007. The most destructive and lethal infernos broke out on August 23, expanded rapidly and raged out of control until August 27, until they were put out in early...
, the 2009 fires took place in eastern Attika, which is a forested-suburban region known for its illegal ribbon development, where thousands of illegal homes have been legalised ahead of successive elections by incumbent governments. This area is also expected to undergo further development and population increase as a result of new urban plans for the area.
Gavril Xanthopoulos, a scientist at the Greek Forest Research Institute in Athens, and one of the country’s leading forest fire experts is quoted as saying: “These areas are what we call a wildland-urban interface, which are not just peculiar to Greece, but exist in all European Mediterranean countries”. The mix of homes and forest can drain fire resources, because the fight is targeted at burning homes and property, allowing forest fires to spread faster. Xanthopoulos claims to have alerted civil protection authorities a fortnight before the fires warning that the drought in vegetation had reached the levels of 2007, that there was an extreme likelihood of fires occurring and that this was reflected in the area’s fire danger map. The meltemi
Meltemi
Meltemi commonly refers to:* Meltemi , for mobile devices* Etesian, for winds...
winds, typical of this time of year made the fires head south, which was a predictable trajectory for the fire.
Erickson Air-Crane
Erickson Air-Crane Incorporated is an aircraft manufacturing and operating company based in Central Point, Oregon, United States. They are known for producing the S-64 Aircrane helicopter, which is used in wildland fire suppression and other heavy-lift operations.Originally the Sikorsky S-64...
Helitanker fire-fighting helicopter is 800,000 euros a season, and is equivalent to the cost of hiring 800 seasonal fire-fighters, which WWF claims would be more effective. In addition, citizen awareness programmes are needed to educated suburban residents about fire prevention and fire-fighting. For example, the connection of electric pumps to swimming pools to help residents to use water for dousing fires. Planting fire-resistant tree species in gardens, such as bay laurel
Bay Laurel
The bay laurel , also known as sweet bay, bay tree, true laurel, Grecian laurel, laurel tree, or simply laurel, is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glossy leaves, native to the Mediterranean region. It is the source of the bay leaf used in cooking...
, poplar
Poplar
Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar , aspen, and cottonwood....
, acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
and oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, can also help save homes. In 2007, fires spread more slowly in rural areas of the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
where a farming population kept areas well-managed and clear of grass.
Factors contributing to the fires
- Forestry registry: Although an official forestry registry has been prepared, there is no political agreement on the contours of the state forests. Implementation has also been delayed until the Greek environment ministry has passed its spatial plan for Athens. Without a registry, municipalities are unable to identify land use changes and illegal house-building.
- 1997: The dasokommandos are disbanded.
- 1998: The forestry service loses control of forest fire-fighting, which is assumed by the fire service. This separates forest management from forest fire-fighting.
- 2003: Legislation, known as Law 3208/2003, changes the definition of what constitutes a forest and suspends penalties for construction within forests and their arbitrary destruction: fires rarely seem to occur on land with no real estate value.
- Fire prevention: The government spends approximately ten times more on fire suppression than fire prevention. Money goes to local authorities and is not accounted for.
- Resources: Greece has the same number of fire-fighting planes in 2009 as it did in 2007, with only around 10 CanadairCanadairCanadair Ltd. was a civil and military aircraft manufacturer in Canada. It was a subsidiary of other aircraft manufacturers, then a nationalized corporation until privatized in 1986, and became the core of Bombardier Aerospace....
water-bombingAerial firefightingAerial firefighting is the use of aircraft and other aerial resources to combat wildfires. The types of aircraft used include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Smokejumpers and rappellers are also classified as aerial firefighters, delivered to the fire by parachute from a variety of fixed-wing...
planes.
- Depleted fire and forestry services: 3,000 permanent vacancies remain to be filled in the fire service, leaving the service under-staffed. The forestry service remains “decimated by staff shortages” (WWF) and needs 30% more forestry scientists, 70% more forestry technicians, and 55% more forestry rangers.
- Civil protection system: This is almost non-existent, and voluntary forces are not used effectively.
- Co-ordination: Co-operation between branches of the fire, forestry and civil protection services remain fragmented and there is no umbrella framework for strategic co-operation and planning.
- Priority: Fire protection does not appear to be a national priority for the government, which has focused attention on economic issues, such as the budget deficit.
Effect on wildlife
About half the burnt woodlands should be able to recover because they are mature pine forests. The other half, are low in regenerative capacity due to repeated burning.Countless animals have perished in the fires, tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s being the most easily visible, due to their burnt-out shells. Birds and faster-moving animals can flee, but will now over-burden nearby eco-systems. Surviving animals may suffer from burns and smoke inhalation.
Re-colonisation of burnt areas will be slow, commencing with insects, lizards and birds, with hares, partridges and foxes only arriving after the first rain has led to new growth. Lack of forest cover will make it easier for predators to locate certain prey species.
The Association for the Protection and Welfare of Wildlife (Anima) operate a 24-hour call centre at telephone: 210-951-0075 or 6972 664 675 (www.wild-anima.gr) for animal casualties.
Effect on cultural heritage
The antiquities linked to the battle of MarathonMarathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
were not directly damaged, although the physical setting of the sites has been destroyed. The sites include the Marathon battle site, Tomb of the Marathon Warriors, the Marathon Museum, Tomb of the Plataeans, and Ramnous.
The sites were saved, due to the fight of local residents during the night of 23–24 August, and the assistance of a northerly wind that helped contain the fires and avoid catastrophe to the ancient monuments and ecologically important area of Schinias. Marathon residents had already been fighting the construction of a land-fill site outside Grammatiko.
Attika fires chronology
- 1981: Kifisia, 612 hectares
- 1982, Dionysos, 1,360 hectares
- 1986: Varibombi, 500 hectares
- 1992: Avlona, 6,700 hectares
- 1993, Pendeli, 5,700 hectares
- 2005: Raphina, 1,100 hectares
- 2007: Parnitha, 5,000 hectares
Aftermath
Since the fires some areas, for example, around Lake Marathon, have been reported as being subject to grazing by flocks of goats. The goats are wandering freely over the burnt-out forest areas. Grazing goats is forbidden in Attika under a law of 1993. After the fires of August 2009, the grazing of other types of animals in forest areas, such as sheep and cattle, was also forbidden.The burnt areas of forest appear to be unmonitored by forest patrols. There are only 49 forest guards in Attica, which means that each guard must patrol an area of 83,000 stremma
Stremma
The stremma is a Greek unit of land area, equal to 1,000 square metres, also called the 'royal' stremma. The name comes from a root meaning 'to turn', presumably referring to the amount of land that can be plowed/turned in a day....
ta. The total forested extent of Attica is 3,500,000 stremmata. In some areas, olive trees have been planted within the burnt forest areas. This is one of the first illegal steps in transforming unmonitored forested areas into cultivated land.
Mr Nikos Chlikas, a forester and environmentalist, has emphasised that about 90,000 to 100,000 stremmata in north-east Attica have been burnt for a second or third time, out of the total of 210,000 stremmata, which was burnt in August 2009. In these areas, it is essential that there is intervention by the authorities to help forest regeneration because the pine trees are very young and do not have the capacity to create cones. This forest cannot regenerate by itself. In addition, the number of small trees which are, at the moment, in the nursery at Amigdales will have difficulty covering 3,000-4,000 stremmata, for this reason money needs to be allocated for new trees, so that planting can take place over the next few years. According to Nikos Chlikas, the cost of reforestation is around 500 euro for each stremma, including the cost of caring for the trees for at least two years. However, in 2008 less than 10,000 stremmata were reforested in te whole of Greece.
As part of the post-fire protection work, the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece (Το Γεωτεχνικό Επιμελητήριο Ελλάδας (ΓΕΩΤ.Ε.Ε.)) with the aim of taking measures to protect the area have placed logs and matted branches along the ground in burnt forest areas, in order to slow down runoff and so reduce erosion. In some areas, cement dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
s have been constructed at some points, although experts question the logic of this, and claim that it is an excessive intervention into the environment. In the secondary and tertiary burnt areas there are, however, insufficient logs of the right size for creating barriers to run-off erosion. Mr Antonis Angelopoulos, a geologist and vice-president of the Geotechnical Chamber of Greece, Eastern Mainland Greece section, agrees that some of the interventions into the environment have been excessive. For example, in Agia Varvara, the permanent cement structures that have been made were probably unnecessary, because the area has already got at least two old, stone dams, which could have been recycled. However, on the gulley of Agiou Stefanou, the anti-runoff work has been positive, because dams have been constructed from boxes made out of wire. This is friendlier to the environment, because these dams hold back rain-washed matter, but allow water to pass through.
Proposed legislation
The new Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate ChangeMinister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change
The Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change is a government minister of Greece responsible for the running of the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. The post was created on 7 October 2009, following the electoral victory of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement on 4...
, Tina Birbili
Tina Birbili
Konstantina Birbili , commonly known as Tina Birbili, was the Minister for the Environment, Energy and Climate Change of Greece until June 17, 2011...
, has created a new draft bill which was announced on 27 October 2009. This legislation would suspend all construction activity on burned forestland in Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
and other parts of Greece until authorities draw up comprehensive forest maps. The ban will be imposed on the issuing of construction licences except for the repair of homes and public buildings destroyed in the fires.
The Hellenic Mapping and Cadastral Organization (HEMCO), established in 1986, will soon start operating a sophisticated system of forest land on the outskirts of Attica, with the aim of reporting back to the authorities the appearance of every new structure outside the town plan.
The bill is to be submitted to the Greek Parliament
Hellenic Parliament
The Hellenic Parliament , also the Parliament of the Hellenes, is the Parliament of Greece, located in the Parliament House , overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens, Greece....
in the first week of November 2009 and provides for the creation of a special state agency which will demolish illegally built homes on burned forest land and fine offenders. The ministry’s environmental inspectors would have the responsibility of locating and demolishing illegal constructions. The 2003 reform introduced by the former Agriculture Minister
Minister for Rural Development and Food (Greece)
The Ministry of Rural Development and Food is a government department of Greece responsible for the country's agriculture.The current minister, as of 7 September 2010, is Kostas Skandalidis.-List of Ministers of Agriculture:...
Giorgos Drys, under PASOK's previous administration, which required at least one-quarter of a piece of land must be covered by forest for it to qualify as forest land. The new bill will reinstate the original 15% requirement.
See also
- 2007 Greek forest fires2007 Greek forest firesThe 2007 Greek forest fires were a series of massive forest fires that broke out in several areas across Greece throughout the summer of 2007. The most destructive and lethal infernos broke out on August 23, expanded rapidly and raged out of control until August 27, until they were put out in early...
- 2009 Mediterranean wildfires