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The
Daily Gyro August 30, 2007 Greece Is Burning To those of us with Greek satellite television or who follow news from Greece, we've known about fires blazing in Greece all summer. As bad as it sounds, Greeks have become a little desensitized to the annual tradition of summer forest fires, most often natural caused by the extreme dry heat coupled with the carelessness of an open flame or a lit cigarette thrown out a window. But it wasn't until Saturday morning when CNN picked up the story when suddenly we knew that these weren't the ordinary Greek fires we're used to seeing every summer. How bad have the fires been? Apparently it's been an unprecedented record breaking summer to the point where the fires are visible from space. Most of the Peleoponese has been burned, an area about the size of Rhode Island to put things into perspective. Why are these fires happening? Both the hot summer and arson are to blame. According to Dimitris Karavellas, Director of the Greek World Wildlife, a "culture of arson" has grown in Greece based on the belief that burning forests is the easiest way to usurp protected land for illegal development. Desperate Greek villagers are trying to stop these fires by any means necessary, including using wine. In Athens, thousands protested on Wednesday. The Greek Government has been under attack over their response to the fires ahead of the upcoming national elections. Greek-Americans are responding. Two relief funds that have spread across the internet are through AHEPA and the Archdiocese. AHEPA has a link for monetary contributions on its website and has also calling on its Chapters to prepare care packages for the Red Cross to ship to Greece. The Archdiocese Greek Fire Relief Fund also allows for online donation. As far as any national attention about this tragedy amongst the non-Greek population here in the United States, there seems to be little or no awareness amongst most Americans about the fires at this time. (Ironically our national consciousness is focused, if only a little, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.) NBC Nightly News did devote some time on Tuesday night to the story, sending Maria Menounos, a Today Show contributor for probably the saddest story she's had to cover, the loss of her families ancestral home in Akovos. Oddly enough, Access Hollywood ran a clip of the Menounos piece as well. (This sparked a quizzical response by the Mom @ DCGreeks.com, a Menounos fan, who couldn't understand the story's place on an entertainment/gossip show. Given our culture of celebrity however, Americans are probably more apt to respond to a crisis in some other part of the world if they can identify the actress or other media personality affected or supporting the cause, so the Access Hollywood clip probably did more to bring this issue into American's living rooms even for a brief moment than all the newspaper and internet coverage could otherwise.)
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