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The fires that have ravaged Greece and its idyllic islands for over a week are dredging up painful memories of previous catastrophes, like the Mati fire in 2018 that killed more than 100 people. Drawing from first-hand experience, a survivor and a veteran firefighter share advice on what to do to survive a wildfire.
Five years ago, Lydia Gerakaki found herself in a life-or-death situation. Sitting in her car with her grandmother and pet dog in tow, she watched terror-stricken as flames engulfed the village where she had spent every summer since she was 3 years old.
The 2018 wildfires in the Greek village of Mati were the second-worst fire disaster of the 21st century. Aided by strong winds, the blaze rapidly ripped through the village, catching many people off guard and leaving them trapped in their homes or cars.
Mismanagement by local fire and police officials added to the devastation, with Greek prosecutors later charging senior officials with negligent manslaughter. “People died because police misdirected them and they ended up driving towards the fire,” says Gerakaki. A total of 104 people lost their lives as a result of the fires.
For over a week now, firefighters in Greece have been struggling to contain brutal wildfires that are ravaging the heat-battered country and its islands.
An air force plane crashed while dropping water on the fires in southern Greece, killing both pilots, and many have been hospitalised with respiratory problems.
Some 30,000 people have been moved to safety on the island of Rhodes, the country’s largest-ever wildfire evacuation. Evacuations have also been ordered on the western island of Corfu, on the island of Evia and in a mountainous area in the southern Peloponnese region of the mainland.
There have already been some unfortunate echoes with the 2018 fire in Mati, as authorities are once again being criticised for their response.
‘Nobody was…
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