GREECE: Fire fighting continues in the Peloponnese region as aid for those affected is organised

Fire fighting continues in the Peloponnese region of Greece as the Greek Orthodox church begins to organise aid supplies for villages who have been affected by fire and relatives of those killed in the fires began to bury their dead. As firefighters continued to battle the forest fires from the ground and from the air, the Greek Orthodox church began to co-ordinate aid to help those areas affected. "We collect food from various areas which were not burned," said Father Yannis from the local church in Zacharo "They come down here and with the help of the priests and the local counsellors from Krestena, Andraitsana and Zacharo distribute them to the destroyed villages," he added. In the village of Makisto, many houses have been completely destroyed, villagers having lost all their possessions., The Greek goverment has begun to costruct prefabricated homes in the area so Makisto residents can begin to rebuld their lives. Fire came to the edge of the small Peloponnese town of Kotili on Thursday (August 30) but was beaten back as French and American aircraft dumped water on the flames. The village, perched in the hills, near Karitaina, is very difficult for the firefighters to reach because of the terrain. Fire had engulfed the valley from three sides around the village. Villagers have refused to evacuate their homes. One resident of the village, Vasso Kostantopoulos said: "We have all been helping each other. We have been on alert also. We haven't slept for eight days now." Another resident said she had never seen a fire as big before despite living in an area which has seen several blazes over the years. Fotini Dimopoulou said: "It's awful, awful, awful. I am 65 years old and I have never seen anything like this before." Across the Peloponnese peninsula firefighters continued battling forest fires as relatives of those killed in the blazes began to bury their dead. Helicopters put out several fires around the historic town of Karitaina. Several villages on the outskirts of the ancient town were under threat. Their inhabitants were evacuate overnight. But firefighters feared they may not be able to prevent the flames reaching Karitaina itself. Tens of thousands of kilometres of land is estimated to have been destroyed in the fires which have claimed at least 63 lives. In Anilio, Pelion a funeral was held for one of the first victims of the fires on Thursday, fire warden Yannis Siorbinis. Hundreds gathered at the village church to bury Siorbinis who died fighting the fires. Just a few days after starting a job he had wanted for years, forest warden Yannis Siordinis, 43, died trying in vain to save a mother and her four children from the deadly fires that have devastated Greece. He left behind a wife and two children. Siordinis died after rushing to help victims of a seven-car pile-up among blazing olive groves close to the neighbouring village of Artemida. Among the charred remains of what appeared to be an accident, a mother was found dead with the bodies of her children still in her arms. There were no survivors. After the service, the coffin was taken up the hill to the cemetery, overlooking the burned olive groves around Anilio, a small community nestled on a hillside which escaped the fires unscathed.

ITN Source | August 31, 2007

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