Certainly has been traumatic for the Greek nation and the diaspora. But there remains a very perplexing puzzle and that is the apparent lack of fire awareness that seems to limit preparedness and fire prevention measures. We, too, in southern Australia have experienced terrible wild-fires far in excess of previous fires in the last 10 years or so. Science tells us that these things are a part of the changes projected by increasing climate variability: bush fires will be stronger, more devastating and more wide spread than our history has seen in the last 200 yrs. So there is the widespread expectation that every family/ household will have an emergency fire evacuation plan and put it into action on days of extreme fire risk. Local govts operate volunteer fire fighting services that train and practice year round, and they are equipped with all the gear they need - fireproof clothing, helmets, breathing gear,water tankers, trucks, pumps, radio contact by waklie talkie, support from helicopters and fire-fighting aeroplanes. On top of that the state govt runs full-time professional fire-fighting units. All citizens/ property owners are reminded to take responsibility for their own properties - clear away ALL flammable STUFF from around and near the house and outbuildings, cut overhanging tree branches away from all rooves, get rid of old, disused paint tins, chemicals, oils, grease, kerosine - get rid of it safely at the nearest recycling depot. Cut dry grass verges. Remove gorse, broom and low scrub that burns easily. Install if possible rain-water tanks to collect from rooves via fitted gutters. Keep gutters free of leaf litter and twigs. Have non-electric pumps fitted to swimming pools and high pressure sprinklers fitted on the rooves of houses, shed and other buildings. Turned on at the last moment they can throw a veil of water over the roof-tops for the few minutes it takes for the fire to pass over-head. Wet sacks, fire extinguishers and water hoses can then be used to deal with any spot fires.
What is really sad is that after centuries these mostly simple fire prevention measures have not become part of the local culture. There will still be wild fires and bushfires and extreme winds but there are many small actions people can take every year to help keep things safer than they have been. Once people looked on these things as natural disasters and accepted them as their Fate to be endured. Now we know many are caused by arsonists, while some may result from lightning strikes, downed power lines, vehicle accidents; whatever we should also recognise our own responsibility to do as much as we can to lessen the impacts. Maybe Baden-Powell was right when he said "Be prrepared."
