END-OF-FIRE SEASON UPDATE IN GREECE: SIGNIFICANT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ATHENS 001660

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR EAID PREL SENV SOCI GR RU
SUBJECT: END-OF-FIRE SEASON UPDATE IN GREECE: SIGNIFICANT
USG ASSISTANCE BUT GOG STILL LACKS COORDINATION

REF: ATHENS 00851


1. (SBU) Summary: Greece had a low-intensity fire season in
2008 with one major fire in July on the island of Rhodes that
destroyed 13,000 hectares of land. Fires reappeared in early
December, hitting Rhodes again and burning over 3,700
hectares of land. The GoG continues to lack coordination in
fire prevention and response among the relevant ministries,
but had better success with its efforts on a purely
operational level.


2. (SBU) The GoG has welcomed USG efforts in technical
assistance and requested additional training on arson
investigation, fire prevention, and Burned Area Emergency
Recovery (BAER). As a gesture of appreciation for USG
assistance on fires, the GoG sent five of their fire-fighters
to assist in the California wildfires in August. End Summary.

General Overview of Fire Season
--------------


3. (SBU) Compared to the devastating fire-season last
summer, this year's fire season can be described as
low-intensity with the exception of the fires that hit the
island of Rhodes in July and again in December impacting over
17,000 acres of land. July's damages included 7,000 hectares
of forest and 2,000 hectares of agricultural land. The
Hellenic Fire Service (HFS) said it sent ten airplanes and
four helicopters to assist in putting out the fire in Rhodes.
Despite HFS' attempt to spin the news positively, news
reports cited "poor Greek precautions" on the fire situation,
with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) saying that,
"Rhodes paid the price this year for the insufficiency of the
country's fire protection system."


4. (SBU) Rhodes was again hit on December 3 when wildfires
broke out and continued unchecked the following day. HFS
said it had difficulty reaching the island due to strong wind
conditions that made it hard for fire-fighting aircraft to
reach the island and meant that boats, confined to the port
of Rhodes, were unable to transport fire-fighters. The fire
reportedly started with the burning of brushwood and gained
momentum with the heavy winds, burning 3,700 hectares of
forest and brush.


5. (SBU) Man-made fires caused by negligence contributed to
the most severe fires this season. In the mountainous region
of Greece, an individual accidentally set fire to a bee-hive
next to a natural gas valve. In another instance, a woman
threw a burning pan into the woods behind her house, causing
the area to catch on fire. The HFS claimed to be active in
investigating and arrested several suspects who deliberately
set the fires. (Note: According to a May 2008 USFS report,
deliberate fires are an ongoing problem in Greece as land is
burned in order to prepare the field for farms and to create
grazing areas for animals. End Note.)

USG Technical Assistance Efforts
--------------


6. (SBU) Through USD 2.2 million in funding from USAID's
Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA),the U.S. Forest
Service (USFS) embarked in 2007 on a two-year cooperative
effort to exchange information and technical expertise in
wildfire management (reftel). This included a USFS visit to
Greece in May 2008 to evaluate the Greek fire prevention
techniques and investigation and subsequently, the
development of formal training courses for Greek officials
involved in fire-fighting, protection of forests and crisis
management. This capacity-building and training is aimed
mostly at the technical and administrative levels.


7. (SBU) In 2008, USFS executed the following activities:

-- US-based aerial supervision and ground crew training
(April - May 2008)
-- Wildland fire investigation and fire prevention training
(May 2008)
-- International seminar on forest administration and
management (October 2008)
-- Fire prevention study tour (November 2008)

The USFS is planning the following collaboration for 2009:

-- Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) case study and
training (TBD)
-- International seminar on watershed management (March 2009)
-- Fire shelter training (TBD)
-- Additiona fire investigation training (TBD)
-- Additioal aerial supervision and ground crew training

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(TBD)

GoG Feedback on USG Assistance
--------------


8. (SBU) In general, all the Greek interlocutors were
thankful for USG efforts on fire assistance and prevention.
The HFS highlighted the usefulness of the training on fire
arson and investigation in May and in November 2008. The HFS
requested additional training on arson-techniques and fire
prevention for the Greek context. In addition, the HFS said
they would like to launch a targeted public awareness
campaign to educate and sensitize citizens on fires caused by
negligence.


9. (SBU) The HFS is seeking fire-fighting aircraft. We have
made it clear that we are constrained in providing aviation
equipment due to resources. The HFS told EconOff in a
December 4 meeting that they lease Russian aircrafts during
fire-season and bid out the contract. Greek interlocutors
have told Director Tom Harbour in previous meetings that they
prefer the Russian use of "foam" in fire-fighting aircrafts
versus the use of "retardants" in US fire-fighting planes.


10. (SBU) Yiannis Anastaskis, the advisor to Ministry for
the Environment, Physical Planning, and Public Works
(MinEnv),said the GoG would like the USFS to conduct
additional BAER training and perhaps develop a BAER manual.
Anastaskis told EconOff that a formal request from the GoG
with details on BAER training would be provided once his
assembled working group had reached a consensus on next steps
for the protection of environment. (Note: Post is following
up. End Note.)

Inter-agency Disconnect
--------------


11. (SBU) In spite of concerted USG focus on using
assistance to buttress Greek coordination on fires, the GoG
continues to suffer in this area. The last senior-level
Inter-Ministerial Committee meeting took place in June 2008
and the next one is planned for March 2009. (Note: As
reported in reftel following the 2007 fires, there continues
to be a lack of urgency and senior-level attention responding
only in moments of crisis. End Note.) On a working-level,
participants gathered from the HFS, Civil Protection, and the
Geotechnical Institute of Greece, on October 30 to discuss
the roles and responsibilities of each agency and Ministry.
The Ministry of Agriculture (MinAg) was noticeably absent.
Advisor to SecGen of Environment Yiannis Anastaskis led the
meeting and told EconOff that he would report on the outcome
and plans from the working group.


12. (SBU) GoG working level officials are concerned about
the lack of coordination. In a separate meeting with the
Forestry Service, representative Vereniki Louka said the
ministries had divided responsibilities with little cohesion,
so it was hard to know what was going on at a national level.
Director of Emergency Planning at the Secretariat of Civil
Protection Fivos Theodorou said his Secretariat was trying to
coordinate with all relevant ministries, but the MinEnv was
not actively engaged. (Note: Greek interlocutors in the NGO
community have complained to EconOff that the MinEnv is
primarily focused on public works projects and does not place
a high priority on the environment. End Note.)


13. (SBU) HFS General Apostolos Gerokostas reported to
EconOff that coordination was certainly better than last
year, but there needed to be a general understanding that
this was a common problem and needed to be dealt with by all
the relevant parties. Gerokostas said there could be greater
involvement by the Ministry of Agriculture, under which the
Forestry Service is housed.

Comment:
--------------


14. (SBU) The 2007 fire should have precipitated greater GoG
engagement on disaster response and crisis management on
both a cohesive policy and operational level. Although there
has been some degree of improvement on the operational level,
there remain communication gaps, especially in the
coordination of over-arching policy. Each ministry points
the finger at the other party for not doing more. The
fire-fighters hit the ground running with the equipment they
have available and the Forestry Service tries to clean up the
mess, while Civil Protection vies with the MinEnv to lead the
effort on senior-level inter-agency coordination. USG
assistance has made some inroads by providing Greece with
technical expertise on an operational level, but if the fires

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reach a catastrophic magnitude, as happened in the 2007 fire
season, a well-coordinated and well-managed policy out of the
GoG would be surprising, particularly in light of recent
events. End Comment.
SPECKHARD