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August 27, 2007

Greek tragedy

One could be excused for wondering what has gone wrong in Greece. The Peloponnese seems to have gone up in flames, and while a lot of it is probably, as suggested by the Greek authorities, down to arson, the overall catastrophe is not just the single act of a few stupid idiots. The overall piucture must be seen, and it is not an encouraging one. Firstly, this part of Europe has been in the grip of a heat wave for several months. Just as Britain has been under water, so the Eastern part of Europe has been without it. The vegetation is tinder dry and just needed the proverbial match.

Now we have the spectacle of watching the Greek forests go up in smoke, and must mourn those who have lost their lives and those who may have escaped the flames only by sacrificing everything else.

There is much in this to commend the Australian approach to a risk of bush fire, they use a scale of assessment and put out a Fire Hazard warning across the states. When the risk is particularly high they have an outright ban on any sort of out door fire - including any BBQ. It doesn't stop the moron with a match or lighter and the sort of terminal stupidity to think it a good laugh to set fire to some grass, but it does limit the potential for other sources. And the penalties for starting such a fire are harsh enough to really hurt the perpetrators when they are caught, and the Aussies have a good record on that too.

Watching the TV news two things have struck me rather forcibly on this occassion, first that the Greek Fire Services outside of the cities haven't the resources to deal with anything on this scale, second that by the time they started water bombing it was probably too late. The one good thing emerging from this is the mutual aid flowing across borders from their European neighbours and the Balkan states. A Greek tragedy has become an opportunity to build bridges for the future.

Pray for those involved, they will need our spiritual and physical support as this tragedy continues to develop.

Posted by The Gray Monk at August 27, 2007 12:10 PM

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