CATASTROPHE in ATHENS

The Greeks are a talented and likeable people but Greece is notoriously badly governed, corruption multiplies, competence dwindles and moral apathy is widespread. A mixture of these faults and an unlucky turn in the weather created a volatile mixture which duly exploded on 23/24 July in a series of fires. These caused 85 deaths near Athens, the destruction of 1,800 houses and countless cars, the ruination of thousands of acres of prime coastal land and an indelible stain on the reputation of the Greek State.

A wildfire takes hold

       

 There are wild-fires every year in Greece, often caused by arson. They are usually contained in some remote area – the Greeks shrug them off as a summer danger, seldom fatal. Until this year. The worst fires were near Mati, a village by the sea in eastern Attica, 29 km from Athens. Mati has expanded greatly over the last 60 years, first as a place for a weekend home for Athenians, then as an area for permanent commuter homes as Athens became too expensive or otherwise intolerable.

Developers years ago bought up the cheap scrub land and crammed in as many houses as they could, some quite substantial residences. In those days Greek planning laws were regularly flouted or ignored – width of roads, distance between houses, materials used, parking restrictions and so on – but nobody doubts the developers “squared” the municipality and the nationalised utilities as the “illegal” houses were connected to electricity and water without any problem – that is how business was done in Greece.

The Greek government makes much now of Mati’s “illegality” but that is a retrospective justification. The Government for decades cast a blind eye over Mati’s and a hundred other areas’ shortcomings and did nothing about them. Only in the last 6 years has the Government, under EU pressure, introduced a programme of legalisation of unauthorised buildings, costing the householder €500 +. Few in Mati probably bothered to pay up as they were not planning ever to sell their property. Fatally, the Government has no easy control of property as, alone in all Europe, Greece has no national Land Registry. The EU has sent money to have one, but progress has been glacial.

When, alas, the fires came, Mati was horribly vulnerable. The Fire Service had conducted no danger or evacuation assessment, the municipality had not erected any signposts towards the sea and Mati was full of car-borne residents and guests. Force 8 winds and swirling gusts made the direction of the fire unpredictable. Locals say the fire travelled very quickly and ripped through the area in a 15 minute inferno. There were many pine-trees whose shed needles and resin-soaked trunks were highly inflammable. Those who rushed for their cars found the narrow roads blocked by parked cars and access to the safe main road was impossible. One path to the sea was open but the second was hidden by residents’ gardens. Tragically one group of 24, unable to find a way out, held hands and huddled together, only to perish from inhaling smoke or from the dreadful heat of the fire.

Burnt cars blocking the road at Mati

          

Those who got to the sea were confined to a rocky strip, not a beach. Crowded there, they waited 4 hours for rescue, having to immerse themselves in the water to prevent their hair catching fire and avoid smoke. Only when a local phoned the coastguard was any help available. Municipality and police had done nothing effective.

Victims await rescue by the sea

Unsurprisingly the grief of residents has turned to anger. Yesterday Panos Kammenos, the defence minister and leader of ANEL, junior partner in the governing coalition, visited Mati and he was mercilessly heckled by people who reckoned the government had let them down completely. He did not apologise but referred to the illegality of buildings in Mati, which did not impress his audience.

There will doubtless be an enquiry and equally doubtless nobody will be blamed and no radical action will ensue. The residents might have been more pro-active in ensuring their own safety. The municipality might have reminded itself about its duties and obtained the necessary resources. The fire service may ponder on the necessity of safety assessments for every community. Most of all the Greek Government should think why successive governments have neglected their basic duties and betrayed their people.

Burnt Houses in Mati

Today identification of 85 burnt and mutilated bodies continues and in time there will be a number of highly emotional funerals. Will these poor souls have died in vain?

SMD

27.07.18

Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2018