day_two_fire_on_hydra

Day Two - Fire on Hydra

25-Jul-07 - Efforts continued from first light this morning to put out the fires that continued unchecked through the night.

Between 2am and 9am the fire had travelled along the coast toward Hydra Town pushed inland and behind the natural amphitheatre by a very slight breeze from the north.

By 10am smoke was billowing over the trees on the top ridge above Ayia Matrona. Planes and helicopters flew non-stop all day from sunrise to sunset battling to douse the fires but really could only limit the damage by concentrating on the hot spots that threatened buildings.

Four properties, thankfully uninhabited at the time, are known to have been destroyed so far.

The most substantial damage has been done in the valley to the north of Hydra Town where all the pasture has been completely incinerated.

For most of the day the hardly noticeable breeze helped to steer the fires away from the upper reaches of the town and Kamini, however at dusk the direction changed with the breeze turning to come off the land and that along with the halting of the water drops from the planes, meant that the fires gathered momentum and spread down the eastern most valley towards the back of town.

It is now midnight and it appears as though the spread is so extensive that Ayia Matrona is likely to be destroyed during the night. Throughout the day, island emergency vehicles were seen driving back and forth evacuating the buildings. Thank goodness there is an access road on this part of the island.

Fire-fighters have rallied at Agios Konstandinos which perches on the top of the west cliff overlooking the town tonight so that they can wet as much of the area as possible in case the flames leap the valley or the fire from the valley behind comes over the top and down into upper Kiaffa.

And further west the skyline is yellow above the pines behind the mill from the fire that is raging in the inland valley. The smell of resin permeates the air and ash is beginning to fall on terraces as far away as the houses around the Haramis Windmill in Kamini. The electricity on the island is being switched off as a precaution and a boat of fire-fighters and equipement has just been delivered to the island.