Greek firefighters to the rescue

ATHENS – Firefighters scrambled a helicopter to rescue people trapped by flames in a southern Greek village yesterday, while dozens of fires burned out of control.

The death toll from the worst wildfires the country has seen rose to 63. The Super Puma chopper headed to the village of Frixa in the western Peloponnese, which has been devastated by four days of raging fires sweeping across the country.”We have a problem.We have people trapped,” said a fire department spokeswoman.She said there were also reports of 11 people trapped in woodland in Aigialia, in the northern Peloponnese.Fuelled by strong, hot winds and parched grass and trees, the fires have engulfed villages, forests and farmland, leaving in their wake a blackened landscape dotted with the carcasses of animals.New blazes broke out faster than others could be brought under control.One fire raged out of control in Nafpaktos in the south, while another wall of flames crossed over Greece’s northern border from Albania, the fire department said.Weekend wildfires killed two people in southern Bulgaria, which borders Greece to the north.An earlier fire that had broken out on Mount Ymittos on the fringes of Athens was quickly brought under control, the fire department said.Authorities have suggested arson caused many of the blazes, and several people have been arrested.A prosecutor yesterday ordered an investigation into whether arson attacks could come under Greece’s anti-terrorism and organised crime laws, Public Order Ministry said in a statement.From Evros in the north to the Western islands of Corfu and Kefalonia and down to the Peloponnese in the south, the same scenes played out: old and young alike grabbed garden hoses, buckets of water and tree branches to beat back the flames in desperate – and often futile – efforts to save their homes.Two more people lost their lives because of the blazes, the fire department said yesterday, including one who drowned as he tried to flee the flames.Hundreds of people were believed to have been left homeless.”The whole village is burning.It’s been burning for three days,” one woman sobbed, clutching her 20-month-old daughter as they sheltered in a church along with dozens of others near Figalia in the western Peloponnese.Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic games and one of the most revered ancient sites, barely escaped destruction on Sunday, when a massive firefighting effort saved the 2 800-year-old ruins from flames that were leaping up to 100 metres in the air.Nampa-APThe Super Puma chopper headed to the village of Frixa in the western Peloponnese, which has been devastated by four days of raging fires sweeping across the country.”We have a problem.We have people trapped,” said a fire department spokeswoman.She said there were also reports of 11 people trapped in woodland in Aigialia, in the northern Peloponnese.Fuelled by strong, hot winds and parched grass and trees, the fires have engulfed villages, forests and farmland, leaving in their wake a blackened landscape dotted with the carcasses of animals.New blazes broke out faster than others could be brought under control.One fire raged out of control in Nafpaktos in the south, while another wall of flames crossed over Greece’s northern border from Albania, the fire department said.Weekend wildfires killed two people in southern Bulgaria, which borders Greece to the north.An earlier fire that had broken out on Mount Ymittos on the fringes of Athens was quickly brought under control, the fire department said.Authorities have suggested arson caused many of the blazes, and several people have been arrested.A prosecutor yesterday ordered an investigation into whether arson attacks could come under Greece’s anti-terrorism and organised crime laws, Public Order Ministry said in a statement.From Evros in the north to the Western islands of Corfu and Kefalonia and down to the Peloponnese in the south, the same scenes played out: old and young alike grabbed garden hoses, buckets of water and tree branches to beat back the flames in desperate – and often futile – efforts to save their homes.Two more people lost their lives because of the blazes, the fire department said yesterday, including one who drowned as he tried to flee the flames.Hundreds of people were believed to have been left homeless.”The whole village is burning.It’s been burning for three days,” one woman sobbed, clutching her 20-month-old daughter as they sheltered in a church along with dozens of others near Figalia in the western Peloponnese.Ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Olympic games and one of the most revered ancient sites, barely escaped destruction on Sunday, when a massive firefighting effort saved the 2 800-year-old ruins from flames that were leaping up to 100 metres in the air.Nampa-AP