There has been widespread public anger in Greece at the government’s response to the deadly, devastating fires which have killed close to 50 people and ravaged many areas of the south. Many have criticized the response as inadequate and slow. There has also been incredulity that such horror could happen in an advanced Western European country.
Neither the Greeks nor the rest of the world should come down hard on the government. Under the circumstances, Greece is doing the best it can to battle what is being described as one of the worst fires in its history. The problems include a hot, dry summer with temperatures recently reaching 40 C, thus turning much of the country into a tinderbox. Firefighters had already battled ferocious fires this summer, and so were stretched to the limit by the current outbreak. Not helping the situation are hot, dry seasonal winds driving the flames across a landscape already parched by successive heat waves, an abundance of forests which fuel any fire, and arson, which is always very hard, sometimes nearly impossible, to stop. Almost everybody, including Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, believes that many of the fires were set on purpose. Almost 200 fires have been reported and since June, more than 3,000 fires have razed thousands of hectares of forests and scrubland across the country — nearly triple last year’s total.
The reason for the intentional carnage is politics. With a general election looming, some people believe the fires may have been started deliberately to make the government look bad. And it appears that the fires and those who started them may have indeed achieved their goals. Karamanlis’ conservative government saw its popularity drop after criticism of its slow reaction to the spate of forest fires earlier this summer, let alone the devastating ones that followed. The fires have wreaked such havoc that people are demanding action from the politicians who are now seeking their votes. The tragedy is so indescribable that along with the charge of arson, those responsible are also being charged with multiple counts of homicide because that is what it is: murder in the first degree. The fires have destroyed people, their residences, infrastructure and livelihoods. They also constitute another serious blow to the ecological health of Athens since the destruction of woodland means there is even less oxygen getting into an already badly overcrowded city. But worst of all, the fires, so many of them man-made, have brought out the worst in human beings.
With this in mind, it is not fair to criticize the Greek government for any shortcomings they have had in battling and containing the blazes. Having played host to the last Summer Olympics, not to mention millions of tourists annually — no small logistical feat when considering the planning, coordination, expertise and technology needed for both — it is fair to conclude that despite the immense task the fires present, Greece is not doing anything less than any other country would have done in similar circumstances.
