FIRE

[Denis and Chris]

Ali,

Thanks for letting us know.

Can imagine how how they feel with all the work they do looking after their land and animals.

Give Evangelika a hug from us till we see them.

Denis and Chris

[shinaria]

It was just about ten in the morning when we were preparing for breakfast in sofia 200m from the secret nest) and went out to the balcony when we first mentioned the smoke rising from behind the hill behind plakias where the path to the old mill leads to. During the morning the smoke was getting more and thicker and around high noon the fire was first to be seen from our rooms in philoxenia. Till then the locals seem not to be so much upset but then they ran... we packed our childrens teddybears and left in the direction of the promenade where lotwsof people stood spectating the disaster with open mouth and some with tears in their eyes. The whole village was in thick smoke and ashes rained from the sky.  As the fire crept down the hill driven by those extreme winds there was not much hope that plakias itself would be able to flee the disaster. But the heroic work of all those firemen and firewomen managed to fight that hazardous fire back from the houses and it made its way more southerly in the direction of souda and burnt down till it reached the sea. Now, two days later live seems to be as normal. Tomorrow we'll try to walk the way to the old mill which we made just the day before the big fire and see what has been left of the valley's beauty. The fire is over. After our return I'll post some photos of the nightmare...

First time on the computer in Plakias Forum
Shinaria

[harribobs]

Alf

danken gott you're all alright...that sounds very frightening indeed

but thanks for letting us know

chris

[Ali & Dave]

We were having a Mythos or two with Stelios last night in Ostraco and he was saying that whilst the kids were caught trying to catch fire to his dad's veg patch he doesn't believe they were the main culprits for the other fires.  He seemed to think that the kids were just 'copying' (with not much achievement) the other fires and he doesn't think they have the character to have started the main fires.

So it's back to wondering who did start the fires.

[Ammoudaki]

What a dreadful shock it must be for people - but  a huge relief to know that everybody was safe, quite a miracle.  And quite a miracle that no-one lost their home.

As to the culprits, what Stelios says rings true - it's always very tempting to rush into looking for people to blame after a disaster, but it's most important to get the right people, and for them to get justice in the right way.   This should bring the village together, rather than drive it apart.

I think the one of the greatest comforts from all this is how resilient the Cretans have been over so many years - I'm pretty confident that their strength of character will contribute to a quicker recovery than anyone would think possible.

Thinking of you all.

[GeriMooney]

Cathie and I were horrified to hear about the fire; it must have been very alarming indeed judging by the accounts so far. We are due in on Tuesday evening and will be able to see for ourselves .......... Knowing the good people of Plakias as we do, we are sure that normality will have been restored.
We are looking forward to meeting with all our friends once again.

[Rowena & Carl]

Latest information received from a reliable source is that the fire today was also started deliberately and the culprits were spotted then and later when they tried to set fire to Yiannis and Maria's (parents of Stelios from Ostraco) vegetable patch.  The police have been informed and it appears that they are non-greek teenagers who live in Selia!!

Hopefully now we can all start to relax.

Unfortunately some of the olive trees will not survive as the older, bigger tree trunks have been smoldering for hours and have been a real problem to put out.

I'm sure the locals here will appreciate all your kind thoughts.  The exhaustion and anger is obvious but being as professional as they are many who fought to save their homes and olives yesterday are still dealing with tourists in a courteous and friendly manner with a smile
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=6516\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[Rowena & Carl]

Hi Dave & Alli

Andy texted us about the fire & we couldn't believe it. Our thoughts go out to all the local people. It must have been so devastating. We only left a week ago & can't believe some one has destroyed the olives & the mountain since then. It certainly won't put us off though & we will be back in September I can't wait!

[aspasia]

It was just about ten in the morning when we were preparing for breakfast in sofia 200m from the secret nest) and went out to the balcony when we first mentioned the smoke rising from behind the hill behind plakias where the path to the old mill leads to. During the morning the smoke was getting more and thicker and around high noon the fire was first to be seen from our rooms in philoxenia. Till then the locals seem not to be so much upset but then they ran... we packed our childrens teddybears and left in the direction of the promenade where lotwsof people stood spectating the disaster with open mouth and some with tears in their eyes. The whole village was in thick smoke and ashes rained from the sky.  As the fire crept down the hill driven by those extreme winds there was not much hope that plakias itself would be able to flee the disaster. But the heroic work of all those firemen and firewomen managed to fight that hazardous fire back from the houses and it made its way more southerly in the direction of souda and burnt down till it reached the sea. Now, two days later live seems to be as normal. Tomorrow we'll try to walk the way to the old mill which we made just the day before the big fire and see what has been left of the valley's beauty. The fire is over. After our return I'll post some photos of the nightmare...

First time on the computer in Plakias Forum
Shinaria
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=6527\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

[aspasia]

It was just about ten in the morning when we were preparing for breakfast in sofia 200m from the secret nest) and went out to the balcony when we first mentioned the smoke rising from behind the hill behind plakias where the path to the old mill leads to. During the morning the smoke was getting more and thicker and around high noon the fire was first to be seen from our rooms in philoxenia. Till then the locals seem not to be so much upset but then they ran... we packed our childrens teddybears and left in the direction of the promenade where lotwsof people stood spectating the disaster with open mouth and some with tears in their eyes. The whole village was in thick smoke and ashes rained from the sky.  As the fire crept down the hill driven by those extreme winds there was not much hope that plakias itself would be able to flee the disaster. But the heroic work of all those firemen and firewomen managed to fight that hazardous fire back from the houses and it made its way more southerly in the direction of souda and burnt down till it reached the sea. Now, two days later live seems to be as normal. Tomorrow we'll try to walk the way to the old mill which we made just the day before the big fire and see what has been left of the valley's beauty. The fire is over. After our return I'll post some photos of the nightmare...

First time on the computer in Plakias Forum
Shinaria
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=6527\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I have just registered on this forum which I had consulted several times before going to Plakias for the first time, this month. We have just returned on the 7th (we were there in Myrthios when the fire started) hoping that they had managed to put it off the following day. Thank God nobody was hurt but we can imagine what is in the poor people's hearts and souls. We were almost crying at seeing those beautiful olive trees which "accompanied" us every morning when going down the hills and then in the afternoons when getting back to Myrthios, ablaze but never imagined that the disaster would turn to be so devastating! I really hope that no human beings is involved in this. But if this is true then......We have fallen in love with the place and will be back next year, for sure...in spite of the terrible wind that blew almost 2 weeks (the time we stayed there)!!!

[Susan K]

Hello and welcome to the forum Aspasia.

Despite the tragic fire, I am glad you had a great time in Plakias, as most people do  .  You get used to the wind although sometimes when it is really bad you can't even sit on the beach.

Where did you stay on your first visit and where did you enjoy eating?

Susan

[Mike G]

We have fallen in love with the place and will be back next year, for sure...in spite of the terrible wind that blew almost 2 weeks (the time we stayed there)!!!

Hello Aspasia,

If you don't like the wind, have you thought about going in May? I have been three times then and although it is occasionally windy, most of the time it isn't. It is warm going on hot then, rather than the extreme heat of summer. I suspect the same applies from mid September onwards, although someone who goes regularly then can advise more authoritatively.

It is also much cheaper and less crowded and you may also get to meet Mr and Mrs Harribobs!!

Mike

[harribobs]

It is also much cheaper and less crowded and you may also get to meet Mr and Mrs Harribobs!!

Mike

   offer also available in late september  


Hi Aspasia

good to see you enjoyed your visit!!  what wind??

[Roland]

Comiserations and best wishes to anyone that remembers us in Plakias.
Hope the fire's finally out for good now.

Will now make an even more concerted effort to get back for a week in September, unfortunately more dependent than we would wish for on last-minute flight/package bargains  

Roland & Jan

[Ploppy]

Welcome Aspasia,

We typically go in the first couple of weeks in September and recently we have been pretty unlucky with the wind. Last year (or was it the year before?) we had 11 out of 14 windy days.

This year we are not going until mid September so maybe we will have less wind this year.