Mega-Fires in Greece (2007)

Mega fires: can they be managed effectively?

“…As far as the pre‐fires period is concerned, scientific experts emphasise that the main underlying causes that contributed importantly to this unpredictable disaster can be summarised in the following factors (Bassi and Kettunen, 2008, Eftichidis, 2007): Forest management . Forest management for forest fire prevention has unfortunately not actively been practised in Greece in recent decades.…”

“…Greek authorities apparently failed to enforce adequate safety measures and create firebreaks on time, despite the high risk of forest fires in an unusually hot summer. The absence of an effective co‐ordination, due to lack of experience in crisis management, resulted also in an important delay in understanding the fire severity and thus slow reaction to crisis of the public authorities (Eftichidis, 2007). Inadequacy of response due to capacity abusage .…”

“…In certain places, blazes were expected to arrive within three to four days but people still did not take basic safety measures like clearing their fields and groves from undergrowth (Bassi and Kettunen, 2008). Old people refused to leave their homes (Eftichidis, 2007). In addition, owners of old houses offering no protection did nothing to improve houses' resistance to a potential fire situation.…”

“…Fewer than about 1 per cent of all wildfires become “mega fires”. These mega fires are characterised by multiple initial fire spots, individual fronts merged into a single super front, extremely high fire line intensity, very long duration and a very large extent of burnt area (Eftichidis, 2007). They often burn under extreme fire weather conditions and exhibit extreme fire behaviour characteristics, exceed all efforts at conventional control, until relief in weather or a break in fuel occurs (The Brookings Institution, Center for Public Policy Education, 2005).…”

Investigation of Fire Weather Danger under a Changing Climate at High Resolution in Greece

“…The weather and climatic conditions regulate wildfire activity in the country. Greece has experienced significant and numerous forest fires with a great impact not only on ecosystems, archaeological sites, infrastructures, etc., but also on the loss of lives during the last few decades [18][19][20][21][22]. Consequently, a number of studies are trying to examine and evaluate fire danger for risk management purposes and prevention due to climate change in Greece.…”