Ursula’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s house in Rafina, close to Athens, has become a victim of the wildfires ravaging the mainland and also Crete. She received pictures from Vangelis as Tina, Tony’s sister, is returning from Tinos. I understand that the upper floor of their beautiful house has been destroyed and along with it possibly many valuable possessions.
Their property is surrounded by pine trees which makes it an easy target for the rapid spread of fire especially when there’s a strong wind. I understand there have been a number of fatalities as well as some serious casualties. Unfortunately, fires, like earthquakes are a regular feature of life in Greece.
There have been two fires in Crete so far, both in the Chania region. The first involved the destruction of a fine, Italian building which formerly housed an important museum collection in the city of Chania. The second fire was in the area of Metohi where thirty firefighters, fifteen appliances and two water-carrying helicopters attended. Damage was done to forest and farmland.
“A massive, rapidly spreading fire broke out Sunday evening at the old Italian barracks that used to house the War Museum in Hania, on the island of Crete’s west end, and has almost completely destroyed the building.
There were no reports of injuries.
It is not known what started the fire which took hold of the 3,000-square-meter building, ravaging its interior wooden structure, around 9.30 p.m. on Sunday.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze in the early hours of Monday and prevent it from spreading to an adjacent park and nearby buildings.
“We have lost a rare architectural monument which was of great value to the city,” said Hania Mayor Tassos Vamvoukas as he visited the scene of the fire.
The biggest part of the collection of the now-defunct museum has been moved to the Athens War Museum.”
There has not been any significant rain for several months so undergrowth is parched and tinder-dry. A discarded shard of glass or careless cigarette is all that is needed to set in train a terrible conflagration.
Paleochora has been cooler today thanks to a reasonably strong westerly wind. It has also been overcast and hazy. There are some menacing clouds appearing from the west and this morning’s forecast mentioned the possibility of scattered thunderstorms. The weather this summer has been a lot less windy than last year which is a blessing.
I shall be up a little earlier in the morning as Sascha and family need to leave at 03:00 for their flight from Souda Airport back to Germany. Things will hopefully run more smoothly than the last time Zora, the dog travelled.
The dogs are already eager for their evening walk but I don’t want to take them out too early as much as it would suit me. With cooler weather, they become more active as indeed do I. Putting them to bed earlier is not such a good idea since I need them to be quiet in the morning as I’m unlikely to be back before 06:30 – two hours after the normal getting up time.
Having been awoken during the night to the sound of the battery backup in the storeroom alerting me to a power cut, I decided to change all the batteries and to swap over the backup devices. In the past, I’ve had lots of equipment in the van so kept the larger backup in there. Most of the clutter is now on a high shelf in the storeroom and will eventually be put in an external electrical cupboard where it will be much easier to access. The storeroom is an important route centre for the camping as it connects the cameras from the bar, the wifi and cameras and wifi on the storeroom itself. Gone are the days of a small network switch which connected me to the central kitchen and thence to the office. We have progressed!
I bought beetroot this morning which I have cooked this afternoon. There is also corn on the cob together with various salad items. And the inevitable olives naturally. If I’d known it was going to be this chilly, I’d have defrosted something from the freezer.
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