Firefighting with helicopters on Samos island in Greece. July 2010

The months of July and August with high temperatures, dried-out nature and strong Meltemi winds are potentially dangerous with regards to fires on Samos island with its many forests and vegetation.

This year there have been fires already , e.g. the one of July 21st. Then, 4 helicopters and 6 planes were involved in the firefighting from the air helping many firefighters on the ground doing their job.







And just now, July 29th 2010, official and voluntary firefighters are struggling again against the long firefront of a big fire between the hills above Kokkari on the north coast and Mytilinii and Mavratzei in the centre of the island.

Here are some videos I took last week on the day after the fire of Wednesday, July 21st, 2010 :

Firefighting on Samos island in Greece. Helicopter coming down to the sea in the gulf of Samos near Malagari opposite the capital Samos-town to refill with seawater.







In the hills on the north coast close to Samos-town, above the road leading to the rubbish damp: helicopters are still flying and dropping water to control the area.



While it can be a life threatening experience to those whose properties or lives are on the risk and for those who fight the fires, it is always a pity too that more green spots will disappear from the map of Samos for quite some years. So, tourists planning to come to Samos should be aware that
- a lot of efforts have been undertaken to improve the firefighting considerably over the last ten years, especially on Samos island.
- the tourist resorts near or on the beaches in most cases are not endangered.

But looking at all those photos and pictures of forest fires on this beautiful island should bring immediately to each tourists mind too the responsibility to behave in a way to prevent any possible cause for a fire on Samos.