The Truth About Why Greece Faces Devastating Wildfires Every Summer 🔥
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- 🧿 In this video, we dive deep into the alarming reality behind Greece's annual wildfire crisis. Every summer, devastating fires ravage the country, threatening lives, destroying landscapes, and displacing communities. We explore the key factors contributing to this relentless cycle, from human negligence and deliberate arson to environmental conditions and inadequate infrastructure. Join us as we uncover the truth about why Greece continues to face such catastrophic wildfires year after year, and what can be done to prevent them in the future.
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We feel your pain neighbor. Same is happening in Turkey. Uncontrolled urbanization, global warming, arsoning etc. There must be multiple reasons which provoke such disasters.
Global warming by haarp?
Do you experience the same phenomenon where after a major fire is over, the burned place becomes a wind turbine park?
Yes the multiple reasons are opportunist multinationals who pay arsonists to set fire on our natural fauna and flora in order to install windfarms. Wind farms are big business and all our mountain tops are full of giant wind turbines, instead of pine trees. But the lie they feed us is that this is environmentally friendly. Personally dear neighbour, I see nothing friendly about this business. It is a threat to life
exactly, multiple reasons ...
@@portishooda Are you saying they are planning to level Halandri and put a electric turbine park? Come on wake up there external forces that are trying to destabilize the country for years
There are many factors that attribute to this situation with the fires that happen in Greece every summer… Arson, infrastructure. I was in Greece last year for 3 months basing ourselves at our little house in Porto Heli. I was astounded to see all the unkept properties all over Greece, accumulated rubbish, grasses and shrubs uncut and so on. This was mostly people’s private properties. I’m a Greek Australian so I definitely understand the atrocities of devastating bush fires. Unfortunately the Greeks do nothing to help themselves. It’s not just the government. 🇬🇷🇦🇺
Dear fellow Greek this is intentional and the politicians are in on it because they get big fat Greek backhanders
absolutely on pointz
I tend to agree with what you have said and I'm not a foreigner but a greek from abroad too. I too haven't been able to return to Greece for 5 years but all of our properties are kept in a great state as we have family taking care of things for us. The grounds are kept clean and the houses look like they are lived in. We do not rely on the govt to do things for us when it incocles our own properties and making sure they are safe. It's just like in winter...if it snows aren't you going to shovel snow from your front door to the pavement so you can walk out? The govt will clear the round but outside your property or business you should do it yourself. My opinion.
I am Australian. We know a lot about these kinds of tragic wild fires.
Natural and "arson"
So very sad . Praying for beautiful Greece 🩵
This absolutely breaks my heart.
Unfortunately, it happens every Summer. It has been happening for decades.
The devastation to the environment, animals and loss of lives (like MATI) and many more examples, is beyond horrendous.
I pray for the safety of everyone.
💔😞💔❤️🩹😢
I am Greek ! We have this thing every year since at least the 1960s. Every year the same thing and getting worse. Fires is a big business here in Greece. From real estate to renewable energy projects. The laws concerniong the useage of land is favorable towards what we see each year. We even have in our culture . I am sure you have the a song saying "Kαιω τα δεντρα , χτίζω μεζονέτες¨"
Θα κάνω τα παιδιά μου μαριονέτες...
Τα έλεγε
My Friend they dont care, every Year on the 17 november 7000 policeman, police 3km at the fire raiging at Athens northern subs, 24km front and only 500 firefighters
Arson
I remember since the 70s but probably 60s, you’re right. They set them all at the same time. Arson to use the land by big Corporations
Πες τα χρυσοστομε...
Nope, until the 80's fires around Athens were hardly ever a phenomenon. Then, Penteli and Parnitha started experiencing fires that would burn even for weeks, but somehow, the total areas burnt were measures in the few hundreds of acres (the first major fire in Parnitha burnt down around 5.000 "stremmata", or 500 acres). The areas being burnt in the 80's were extremely targeted, e.g. Ekali, Thrako-makedones, Politeia and all the usual places where new money wanted to build their new mansion. Before that, forest fires were almost never the result of intentional arsons.
Oh yes Daniel and fellow compatriots, this last visit to Greece was like a distopian film. Evoia from the plane looked like a lunar landscape full of windfarms and the sunset in Nafplio was something out of the Tellytubbies with the sun setting behind the windturbines. In fact the whole of Greece has been transformed into a giant Telly Tubby Park for the convenience of the German banks. Soon there won't be a square inch of greenery
On Kos atm, but was the same when we lived in Australia. 90-95% of fires are lit by arsonists.
That’s really sad that people decide to light fires on purpose !!!
Don’t they know the destruction that it can happen not only to trees and wildlife but also to people.
hahaha. Give one credible source of this BS statistic!
I am sure you 'think' in your dreams that 95% is arson, but the data says that the majority of fires is negligence.
30% natural causes, 70% humans. Out of the 70%, around 15-25% is arson. So arson is overall 10% - 20%.
Look up the real numbers.
Prayers from Chicago!!
Watching from Holland.. Last year i went to Rhodes in september and i saw the aftermath of the horrible fires there. Truly heartbreaking!! So many people lost their homes and restaurants and such. You are right so many animals lost their life and it costs people so much money not able to run their business and all that. It was so sad to see the black areas over there. It made me even more aware and i spent my money in small supermarkets and other stores instead of big companies even more than i already did in other years. Next month i am going to Corfu and i will for sure do the same. They have a hard time enough already without all these fires. Not that i am rich don't get me wrong but every little bit helps i guess. Greetings xxx Juliette
Thank you
In South Australia we also have fires. The police have a register of known arsonists, and they go and visit them and monitor them in high fire danger days. But it does require a lot of resources - we seem to have a lot more police as well.
Creating new.......free land😢
that's the least reason ...
Very sad and why it happens every year? Prayers for Greece and elsewhere this is happening! ❤
breaks my heart 😞
Hey! My wife is Greek and from Elefsina too. Her parents know your in-laws I think.
Last time I visited Greece I was in Nea Makri next door to Mati having coffee 90 minutes before that fire. That was a catastrophic event that I will never forget, especially the next day seeing the carnage.
I remember years ago watching yellow airplanes scooping buckets of water from the sea to extinguish the fires on the Pelion mountain sides.
Watching from Scarborough North Yorkshire UK
Such a dreadful situation with the fires near Athens saw an area in Kos last October which had had fires the previous year ( pine trees) high winds make it worse it’s a catastrophic combination.
I remember experiencing my first fire in Greece in Saronida on the Athens Riveria region back in 1984. Then I also would witness them after that frequently in the summer. I am alarmed that they even happen north in Macedonia and Thrace as well now. It breaks my heart. I literally have no idea what the solution is. The fires are actually occurring today throughout the Balkans and rest of the mediterranean. Unfortunately Greece and all EU nations in this area have reached a point where there needs to be more investment in infrastructure for this instead of in the military budgets. Fire prevention should be the military at this point.
You're right that wild-fires became a serious problem in Greece in the early 80's. Most were highly targeted (Penteli and Parnitha), with the specific aim of turning forest areas into residential zones... unfortunately, I even met a girl once that admitted that her father who had passed away was an unemployed mathematician-turned-real-estate-agent who used to put fires in the Ekali region during that time to turn forests into "residential land"...
Hi. I see you from Athens and I watch all your great videos. Unfortunately, catastrophic fires are caused by arson, which starts simultaneously in many areas. Foreigners from neighboring countries have been arrested many times and incendiary devices have also been found. This is the truth.
First of all, the good news: THIS year (2024), as the summer was progressing, it was becoming obvious to many people that something was changing: every fire (at least the ones near the big urban areas, like Athens, Salonica, Patras etc.) would become extinguished within 24 hours of its eruption! (sole exception is the fire you mention, and which was still extinguished within 48 hours) And indeed, as the prime minister announced yesterday (and he cannot be lying because the data are publicly available) this year, the total number of burnt acres in Greece is 30% less than the average burnt acres per year of the last 20 years! This is great news, and it shows that the new dogma that was put in place (send almost everything you've got as soon as a fire is detected, have fire-fighting helis, tractors and planes fully loaded with water patrol the areas in danger all day long during H-D-W conditions, and patrol at all times with drones and UAVs) actually works. As the fire-department gets more hires and more modern air-planes and helicopters, things will likely get even better in the future. Also, legal measures for arsonists became a lot tougher which also helped. Regarding the tragedy at Mati, where 104 people were killed, allow me to argue that as almost every victim survivor has pointed out during the trial that is now taking place in Athens, the problem was NOT at all the civil infrastructure in the area (which is essentially blaming the victims) but the complete luck of issuing any warnings to the residents of the area to leave. Since then, we never had any serious fatalities, exactly because as soon as a forest fire approaches a residential area, immediately the "112" civil protection messages arrive on your phone telling you how to evacuate the area. This didn't work in 2018 at Mati, and led to the terrible tragedy. Finally, I have to say that I consider the Greek fire-fighting forces at least 100x BETTER than the US/Canadian/Russian forces whose usual motto is "we expect the fire will die out in the last weeks of October"...
These fires are the result of systematic arsoning that takes place every summer all over Greece, especially in Attika. The reason why every summer is getting worse is because the gov has no intention to equip the fire depts with proper vehicles and fireplanes. We have efficiently addressed these fires back in the '80s with Canadairs. But now there is not one left and there is clearly no intention to buy any. On top of that, the signle company that sets up wind turbines benefits because they have easy (at literally no cost) access to the mountains to install their crap. They are happy, the rest of the people suffer. I hope it make sense to all people from abroad...
Lol your kid is so adorable 😂
greek government should install these water deposits in area that are dry. or make more small scale ponds. when is rains, those will fill up and it makes the soil retain more water long term, which helps fight forest fires
Sad to say arson plays plays a big part in cause of fires. In my time in Peloponnese people,e were extending their property within days. The lost to nature and the effect on environment is tragic. A regular occurrence living in Greece I’m afraid. Keep up the videos Daniel! T
I am in Athens its difficult i cant breathe. I am crying all day for this. I am grandmother i am thinking about my children. I pray God to help Greece.
Australia has frequent fires but not every year in 2019 it raged for 6 months with 1 billion animals lost and over 5 million hectares. The investigations show over 95% deliberately lit or a burning break gone wrong. Similarly being Greek most are deliberately lit to clear land for sale or windmills then the wind exacerbates the situation as does the lack of fire-fighters and equipment. Australia is too vast even with better infrastructure once the wind takes hold. It's destroying the beautiful forests in both countries nothing is more precious than nature. The politicians in both countries worry about green energy and not green forest that we need for the oxygen we breath. You have to be a narcissist to be a politician. 😫😡
the real problem in Greece has a name and surname it is called Political Impunity
Στη Βόρεια Εύβοια να πας να δεις τα αποτελέσματα των εκλογών (δημοτικές, περιφερειακές, εθνικές και ευρωπαϊκές) ΜΕΤΑ τις φωτιές. Τότε θα δεις το πραγματικό πρόβλημα. ;)
@@user-lm6me2tz9t δλδ εάν ψήφιζαν το δικό σου το κόμμα θα ήταν καλλίτερα?
What do you mean by political impunity?
And specific to Greece?
@@karpoezi Την είπες την χαζομάρα. Δεν είναι θέμα επιλογής κόμματος, αλλά έλλειψης αξιοπρέπειας του να ΜΗΝ ψηφίσεις αυτούς που σου έκαψαν το μισό νησί. Τόσο πολύ σε τυφλώνει ο κομματικοσκυλισμός σου που δεν καταλαβαίνεις ούτε αυτό το βασικό;
Since the 70s. Arson every time
Kineta fires were 2018.
The same year as Mati.
Thank you for keeping us grounded
I'm glad I plan to visit later in the year
Thank you for your support 🙏💙
Sweden here🙌🖐
Tjena tjena! Kalispera 🇬🇷🙏
Arsons as usual. You only need to take a look at Google maps and see that many of the areas burning now are littered with newly developed neighborhoods, still not fully built. These are areas that were slowly being “cleared” in the 80-90s when I was growing up, used to be forests. Governments then slowly “legalized” those areas. Lather, rinse, repeat, same story.
I can't watch this devastation. It hurts too much. My heart breaks especially for the innocent animals that are victim to this destruction. Most fires are arson. Wake up. Same here in Canada and anywhere else in the world. And there's a reason for it. And it ain't nice.
The lack of land management in Greece makes me angry and is tragic. Also, lots of technology (drones, robotic fire sensors, etc.) could be put to use to nip fires in the bud before they spread dangerously, but … no one in government (Ministry of Interior or other) seems to care. The loss of life - especially innocent animals - because of this arrogance cannot be forgiven.
The probability of wild fires in Greece must correlate with the proportion of smokers in the country. I’ve seen so many discarded cigarette buts in places of natural beauty. I have challenged some of these numbskulls who walk through a pine forest whilst smoking. They are so arrogant…
Science the new religion
Long story short, this happens every year. The climate in Greece helps these fires spread everywhere. Some of these fires are caused by natural events or accidents, while others are started by people.
For example, the fire in Glyfada (Athens) was started by teenagers for fun. We don't have the necessary equipment, like planes, to cool down the fires. Often, these fires occur simultaneously in different locations, making it difficult for firefighters to control them.
Monemvasia is a wonderful place, not far from Nafplio, and the whole Peloponnese region is amazing.
Anyway, it’s so funny hearing you talk Greek with your daughter. I’ll probably be the same kind of father, speaking English with my kids-they’ll be fluent with the accent, while I’ll be stuck with my poor passive vocabulary! Hahaha.
Lastly, what you can do is volunteer as a firefighter (pyrasfaleia). My buddy has been doing it all summer, 2-3 times per week.
you say Greece doesn't have the necessary equipment like planes to cool down the fires. While I agree we need many more planes and helis, I quote from wikipedia: "Since the 1930s, the Fire Service has used more than 3,500 vehicles. Today it owns about 2,500 trucks and cars (1,500 fire engines and fire tenders, 800 auxiliary and 200 special), 44 firefighting aircraft, 20 helicopters (5 belonging to the House and 15 leased) and 10 firefighting vessels." And according to ChatGPT, here are the numbers for Italy (with a population around 6x bigger than us): "As of 2023, Italy has a significant fleet of firefighting aircraft, primarily composed of Canadair planes and helicopters. The fleet includes:
Canadair CL-415 planes: Italy has around 19 to 21 Canadair CL-415 amphibious planes, which are specialized for firefighting missions. These planes are essential for dropping large quantities of water on wildfires and are a key component of Italy’s firefighting capabilities.
Firefighting helicopters: Italy operates around 25 to 30 helicopters for firefighting, including models like the Erickson S-64 "Skycrane" and others that can carry water buckets for aerial drops."
It makes me sad, all these days are so bad...
We have been living near Nafplio for more than 20 years. Have never seen fire close to our house. Well, the surrounding land here is all
private property, so no reason for fires. Small fires can brake out by accident (let's say stupid people) during the day, but they never get
very big and devastating.
Truly heartbreaking
We live in an era of social and environmental engineering unfortunately....
[The following story is directed to illegal rich villas, not ancient villages that existed for hundreds of years]
In the beginning, there were a forest.
Rich people wanted to build a private villa in the forest. Obviously that's illegal, it's a forest.
Pay some people to burn it to the ground. It's still illegal (surprisingly) to build on a once forested land.
However one major difference is that now, rich people can build their villa, then bribe the officials and say say "what forest?" to which they reply (after taking massive bribes) "hm yes indeed, there is no forest here"
It's still illegal. However now the rich people can pay the fine of building in an "illegal" zone instead of having to demolish their villa for building in a forest zone.
X years pass.
Old rich people live happily in their "totally legal"(tm) villa.
However, now the new generation of young rich people would like a forest villa. Funny thing, nothing really changes, they pay some people to burn the forest (this time along villas that shouldn't even be there) to the ground and the cycle repeats.
So as a summary, if you pay really REALLY large sums of money, is it really illegal to build a villa in a forest?
This is one of those problems that everyone remembers when their house is in risk of getting burnt down. The remainder of the time they either do not care about it or simply express their sympathy for the affected and the victims and their outrage for the government's ineptitude.
The truth is simply that this has been a problem ever since the housing market (i.e. the building industry) became the predominant force in the Greek economy. What this industry needs is more space, old houses to become unwanted and old neighbourhoods to decline in popularity while new areas rise in popularity. This has to be an on-going thing for this huge industry to continue to be profitable. Naturally, building cannot take place in farmland (because of, well, farmers) thus leaving forested areas as the only ones available for expansion.
A city dweller has never been in a forest in Greece. City people naturally do not really care about forests, They feel sorry for them of course when they burn down but that's all they are going to do about it. After the fires are over in September every year they just go on living their lives and dealing with their own problems. Therefore, the government does not really care about them and will only do the bare minimum necessary. Nothing will happen in the coming years or decades for this very reason but also for another new one: soon there won't be any forests left to burn down near densely populated areas.
What I’m wondering because one of those newspapers or videos said that most of the fires are started by people, they use the word hands, but what would that be that being people being careless with campfires or grilling barbecue or simply throwing cigarettes or doing something on purpose or does anybody know?
Really curious I don’t live in Greece, but I know someone who is Greek but doesn’t live there right now
This is so heartbreaking to see! Is the government taking care of people who lost their houses? Is there any charity in place helping people to rebuild their lives?
😢😢😢 Trieste quanto mi dispiace e triestisimo!
This is disturbing and very sad 😢
Yes it is.
I left my house to save my life and with me my family.
The only thing you care this moment is how will be your life after that.
We had the best climate , one of the most beautiful forest.
And now this is the Greece somebody are dreaming of ?
The city of poverty of war ... ?
Shame of them...
Every year the same tragedy.
What can be done to prevent this from happening so often?
the problem in Greece has 3 names PASOK, SYRIZA, NEA DIMOKRATIA
Κουράγιο Αθήνα.
been happening for years... deliberately lit yearly.
Greece recently took delivery of 40 new F16 Fighters total 170 units, it has only 40 fire fighting aircraft !!!!
So Whos lighting these Fires and causing this Destruction?
Who are they?
The future it is not wild forestes . Money and energy for ever .
You all have solutions but there are no actions.
You did not answer the question! What is the truth behind ? As title says!!! Best regards
So they can tell climate is changing...
First the government must invest and purchase enough of those airplanes or helicopters that they dropping the water and put the fires out! Seconly they must open roads and maintain them. Must have an evacuation plan and an evacuated route that it’s known to residents and finally the government including local authorities must stop making people angry with their corruption and their irresponsibility for not taking care of their everyday business!
When the politics are weaker than the interests of all kind
That happens to all aspects of the society
Very weak political system
It will not be surprising to go back to a wild financial crisis like 2015
Two words: wind farms
Dude what is your name? I have watched like 30 of your videos and I don’t think I ever seen you mention it.
Yes he says who he is in the channel description, he's Daniel
It's in the credits
Greece needs waater tanks when it rains they fill up use water when fire comes each home
Asymmetric warfare...
The reason is because of the memorandums and the fact that Greece is not allowed to hire permanent forest fire fighters. That is the reason
Not true at all. Besides Greece today has exited the agreements from the IMF, and foreign governments.
@@AB-jz9ns what are you talking about? There is a mechanism of overseeing all spending in perpetuity
@@theoavg The budget by the EU central bank yes. They do look at spending. They don’t care if you hire firefighters or garbage men. If you need firefighters then hire them. You have to cut the budget spending from somewhere else to find the money. Why is that bad? It’s security so they don’t go into borrowing new loans again. Μαλακίες λες.
@@theoavg Correct. They oversee the spending. If you can afford hiring firefighters they will not object. If you can’t because you have no money or you did not cut the budget somewhere else then it is the Greek government’s fault. Not them. In the end it is a good thing not to repeat the mistakes of the past. You made it sound they object if the government is hiring firefighters. Not so. Find the $ to pay them and it’s all good.
In the US most firefighters are volunteers believe it or not. This means that they do have a full time force but supplement with volunteers that are trained. They don’t get any money, just some benefits. It is way too expensive for any country to maintain a large force of tens of thousands of people waiting for the possibility they may get called once a year.
@@AB-jz9nsof course you can afford hiring firefighters and in a free country you shouldn’t have to ask any foreigner permission to guarantee the safety of its people. It is very easy to cover the needs of your people by printing money and by investing in the living workforce. Since you are American you would know that this was exactly what Roosevelt did back in the day. Btw the debt today is higher than when Greece signed the memorandums. So no one really controls for mistakes of the past. They only want to be able to extract value out of the corps of the economy in any possible way.
I bet Serbia Is there to Help..unless all firefighters busy in bosnia,those Bad serbs
Firemen.
Firemen.
Firemen.
@@Raoul-y6p idk Here we fight fire.not set fire hence firefighters not firemen hehe
@@zrikizrikic9126 Ah you are a Lgbt?
We have many many firefighters. But still, I m not sure why there is not good result. Also we ask help from Romanian fight fighters. I don't think our firefighters are well organized . Also many of them are not passionate about their job, they want a stable job. Usually the volunteers do more than the official firefighters.
There is no need to blame the firefighters. A wildfire and a 8 Bf wind is a deadly combination. Even the world's best firefighters can't cope with that.
Its not dificult to understant the reasons.
Just have a look at what kind of "trees" grow in the burnt forests after the fires.
So, in Hellada the trees that grow after fires are ..... WIND TURBINES !!!
Impressive, isnt it ?!?!?!?!
Now, this is happening the last 2 decades. Before that during decades of '80s-'00s the trees that grew after fires were ... houses !!!
Live your Myth in Greece 😂😂😂
You can have the military patrol in the summertime all forest.
Its 100 % arson its the government play the game of burning the forest why every summer