What Caused the Fire on Othonos Island?
Othoni island
10 Oct 2017
/ 18:34
CORFU. The fire on Othonos Island (off the north west coast of Corfu) on Sunday has raised questions about how it started and about the coincidence that it happened
while the national Conference for Small Islands was taking place on the island.
Preliminary Investigation
The Director of the Fire Department, Efthymios Georgakopoulos, told us that us that the cause of the fire was still under investigation. Firemen have remained at the site of the fire to guard against any rekindling of the flames.
Residents risked their lives to save their property
Vassilis Georgoulis, a volunteer who was participating in the conference as a small island resident (he has lived on several), complained to Enimerosi that residents in the area had risked their lives to save their properties. Mr Georgoulis told us that when the fire was first noticed, people saw smoke between the forest and the houses. Together with the Harbourmaster, Konstantinos Banos, the Mayor of Corfu, Kostas Nikolouzos, Deputy Mayor of Mathraki, Noni Mastora and the President of the Greek Network of Small Islands, Eleftherios Kehagioglou residents rushed to the spot where the fire had broken out. Elderly residents there were trying to save their endangered houses.
The Mayor used branches to put out the fire and Mr Georgoulis and the Harbourmaster helped remove the elderly couples that lived closest to the fire front. Fire planes then came and dropped water on the flames. In the evening, due to the weather forecast, port vessels transferred people back to Corfu while members of the Fire Department, Ms Mastora and Vice President Mr Argyros remained on the island. The volunteer, Mr Georgoulis, told us that the water which was used came from the water tanks belonging to houses.
Departure from the island on Sunday instead of Monday
The Mayor of Corfu, Kostas Nikolouzos, several Deputy Mayors from other regions who were attending the conference, academics, volunteer Vassilis Georgoulis and other civil servants returned to Corfu on two port vessels on Sunday evening . Others chose to remain on the island until Monday as originally planned.
Representative of Othonos Organization Accuses Authorities of Lack of Readiness
Yiannis Katehis, who is a resident of the area and head of the organization ‘Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Othonos’, described what he saw on Sunday in a Facebook post. Mr Katehis states that the fire was put under control by the fire-fighting unit several hours before the Fire Service arrived. He added that he was glad that the Mayor saw at first-hand the lack of readiness.
The Deputy Mayor of Othonos replies
The Deputy Mayor of Othonos, Theodoros Loukanaris, responded to the statement from the Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Othonos. Due to other obligations, Mr Loukanaris had been unable to attend the Small Islands Conference in Othonos and so wasn’t on the island on Sunday. He stated that there had been general maintenance of the Fire Service vehicles and any problems that had occurred were not due to lack of maintenance as they had been tested regularly by the president of the local community.
He went on to say that the matter of fire-breaks had been discussed and required special studies by the Forestry Dept. He expressed his concern that the natural beauty of the area could be spoiled. Regarding the water pumps, he claimed that all the necessary preparations had been made. He complained that several people didn’t want the local efforts to succeed and wondered why they didn’t look instead at the local authority’s efforts to improve the harbour and transportation, which will benefit the lives of residents. Finally, he said that it was the first time he had commented publicly and had only done so because of the frustration he felt.
Preliminary Investigation
The Director of the Fire Department, Efthymios Georgakopoulos, told us that us that the cause of the fire was still under investigation. Firemen have remained at the site of the fire to guard against any rekindling of the flames.
Residents risked their lives to save their property
Vassilis Georgoulis, a volunteer who was participating in the conference as a small island resident (he has lived on several), complained to Enimerosi that residents in the area had risked their lives to save their properties. Mr Georgoulis told us that when the fire was first noticed, people saw smoke between the forest and the houses. Together with the Harbourmaster, Konstantinos Banos, the Mayor of Corfu, Kostas Nikolouzos, Deputy Mayor of Mathraki, Noni Mastora and the President of the Greek Network of Small Islands, Eleftherios Kehagioglou residents rushed to the spot where the fire had broken out. Elderly residents there were trying to save their endangered houses.
The Mayor used branches to put out the fire and Mr Georgoulis and the Harbourmaster helped remove the elderly couples that lived closest to the fire front. Fire planes then came and dropped water on the flames. In the evening, due to the weather forecast, port vessels transferred people back to Corfu while members of the Fire Department, Ms Mastora and Vice President Mr Argyros remained on the island. The volunteer, Mr Georgoulis, told us that the water which was used came from the water tanks belonging to houses.
Departure from the island on Sunday instead of Monday
The Mayor of Corfu, Kostas Nikolouzos, several Deputy Mayors from other regions who were attending the conference, academics, volunteer Vassilis Georgoulis and other civil servants returned to Corfu on two port vessels on Sunday evening . Others chose to remain on the island until Monday as originally planned.
Representative of Othonos Organization Accuses Authorities of Lack of Readiness
Yiannis Katehis, who is a resident of the area and head of the organization ‘Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Othonos’, described what he saw on Sunday in a Facebook post. Mr Katehis states that the fire was put under control by the fire-fighting unit several hours before the Fire Service arrived. He added that he was glad that the Mayor saw at first-hand the lack of readiness.
The Deputy Mayor of Othonos replies
The Deputy Mayor of Othonos, Theodoros Loukanaris, responded to the statement from the Environmental and Cultural Heritage of Othonos. Due to other obligations, Mr Loukanaris had been unable to attend the Small Islands Conference in Othonos and so wasn’t on the island on Sunday. He stated that there had been general maintenance of the Fire Service vehicles and any problems that had occurred were not due to lack of maintenance as they had been tested regularly by the president of the local community.
He went on to say that the matter of fire-breaks had been discussed and required special studies by the Forestry Dept. He expressed his concern that the natural beauty of the area could be spoiled. Regarding the water pumps, he claimed that all the necessary preparations had been made. He complained that several people didn’t want the local efforts to succeed and wondered why they didn’t look instead at the local authority’s efforts to improve the harbour and transportation, which will benefit the lives of residents. Finally, he said that it was the first time he had commented publicly and had only done so because of the frustration he felt.
