Greece forest fires?

Question

Forest fires are at present raging and sweeping across Greece uncontrollably. Villages have to be evacuated and some historic sites such as Mt Olympia are also threatened.

However, how can villages and historic sites be threatened by forest fires? Are they not outside the forest and far away? For example, can New York or Las Vegas be threatened by forest fires? Surely not, isn't it?

So why must villages be evacuated? I don't understand.

Sorry, I still don't understand your answers. Aren't towns and villages built away from forests?

Don't towns and trees only comprise mainly buildings and roads?

How can the fires be transported RIGHT into the towns?

Should a spark fall unto Broadway, how can it possibly create a huge fire?

Likewise, should a smouldering leaf were to flutter into Brooklyn, how much damage can it caused?

Besides, brick walls should not succumb to fires, should they?

I don't understand?

Answer 1

Because the winds can blow burning embers onto the buildings in the villages.This is the big problem they are having at the moment which is causing the fires to keep spreading and not burning themselves out.Most of the ancient ruins are protected by sprinkler systems but these are having little effect due to the magnitude of the situation.

Answer 2

Cyprus sent 30 firemen and 6 fire-cars by plane a while ago. Many firemen wanted to go to help, but Greeks agreed with us for this number. I think that even if we send ten times more, that unfortunately won't help. Which beast can organize such action? New way of terrorism? Hate? Are they going to burn the whole Greece? It looks like they won't stop until they burn even the last pot with plants on our balconies. Brussels are counting pro and against : we need them now! Not tomorrow or the day after! Can't they do something immediately? Do they have to wait for complete disaster? It was so sad to hear about mother with four children found dead near their car, trying to escape.And just a few steps behind - their grandmother. Wild animals kill for food or when in danger. Do humans kill for fun?

Answer 3

Villages and historic sites can be surrounded by low growing brush, which is basically how the fire spreads through a forest.

The Greeks are suffering a bad case of Pax Americana.

Modern forest fires are the result of an overgrowth of understory vegetation. This overgrowth occurs because it is not removed naturally by small fires - and this all might be caused by an American bear.

"Smokey the Bear" was a spokes(man?) for the US forest service, which during the latter half of the 20th century tried to eradicate all fires, whether naturally burning or not.

"Only YOU can prevent forest fires", was Smokey's stern advice. What Smokey didn't know was that American forests were filling with dead timber and a host of other detritus which was primed and ready to burn. The great fire of 1988 burned much of Yellowstone forest, and of course threatened the main lodge.

Native Americans understood nature better than cartoon bears. They selectivly burned the forest until it resembled an open park with grass growing between enormous trees. This improved hunting, and it was also good for the deer, since they had food to graze on.

This is impossible today because westerners have always prized big trees as lumber instead of as hunting blinds. The cedars of lebanon are a prime example. Also, all the open space is best filled with a monoculture of fast growing lumber. Hopefully Americans can find a way to industrialize nature without it all burning to the ground first.

Answer 4

Greece is a small country. It doesn't have the American luxury of miles of nothing between forests and towns. There are villages in the forest and until yesterday, Olympia was surrounded by forest.

Answer 5

There are villages in the mountains, near the forests. Homes have already been burnt to the ground as well as over 60 people losing their lives. The strong winds are making the fires spread. You can;t compare Greece to NY or las vegas.

Answer 6

I think it might be a good idea if you were to look at the relative geography of North America and Greece and remember that huge swathes of America have been destroyed by fire recently.

Remember that America has very little recorded history whereas Greece has thousands of years of it and has an enormous number of buildings and other artifacts in a very small country.

Answer 7

Most planned cities have areas called green areas or zones that have lots of trees and bushes. If fire get into these areas, they could cause a lot of problems for the inhabitants of the city affected.

Answer 8

Some villages are built very near forest. And with the strong wind blowing, the villages are bound to be threatened.

Answer 9

Villages are INSIDE the forests. Same for the historic sites.

NY and Vegas are no longer villages.

Answer 10

Yeah, why do houses in California, Montana, etc have to be evacuated right before the burn down because of forrest and brush fires? Why not just let the people sit in them and burn to death?

Try using example that doesnt include New York (concrete jungle) and Las Vegas (in the middle of the desert). Or just watch the news once and you would see what is going on instead of just stating uneducated guesses at the situations of places you obviously know nothing about.