Fire on Hydra

[hydriot]

Most years since 1991 I have walked to Episcopi (the village in the southwest of Hydra) and beyond. At Lower Episcopi were two one-storey ruined houses, roofless but their walls still standing, and a short walled path between them that led to a beautiful view down the length of the south coast. Each visit I would sit here contemplatively for half-an-hour drinking my water and enjoying the solitude.

About four years ago I noticed that someone was restoring the seaward of the two houses. It was a long slow process, whose progress I noted over several years: first a roof appeared, then window-frames and glass, then a black water-tank near the roof, and finally paint. It was clearly a labour of love.

On Monday, I returned to that little haven to find a scene of absolute devastation. The house has been destroyed, the roof completely consumed, and just a few shards of glass remain on the ground where the window-frames used to be. Scorch marks reaching up to the top of each window apperture show how intense the fire inside must have been. All the hard work of the owner over several years has been destroyed in a few hours ... and I doubt he was insured. The house is back to being the ruin it was six years ago.

The fire reached right to the spot where I was accustomed to sit, stopped only by a large wall with little beyond it to consume. The lovely view of the south coast has gone, to be replaced by a scene like No Man's Land in the First World War: a forest consisting solely of black stumps of young trees pathetically pointing skywards surrounded by a sea of ash, which blew into my eyes even as I tried to take it all in.

At least the fire did not succeed in crossing the road from Palamidas to Episcopi (which would have caused the devastation of the verdant forests around beautiful Molos and Bisti). But it did succeed in outflanking the road by creeping along the very coast and was stopped uncomfortably near to the beach of Agios Nickolaos, coming within thirty yards of a substantial two-storey farmhouse in Lower Episcopi.

While the fire was intense and all-consuming at my haven, at other spots it seems to have been less determined. There is a new colour on Hydra: auburn. Many trees still have their foliage but it has been baked auburn, so the walker has the strange sensation that parts of the hillside are in summer bloom while other parts have been plunged into premature autumn. Perhaps the strangest sight I saw was seventy yards from two small shacks at the approach to Episcopi where you could see the exact point the fire was halted: all the foliage on the south face of a single very large pine-tree was scorched auburn while all the foliage on its north face was still a healthy green!

[lizzytysh]

Thank you, Jen, for keeping us updated. Many of us were very concerned during that time. Anything could have happened to Hydra if the timing had been different. Thank you to the courageous firefighters who were able to focus on Hydra during its crisis, and have probably been bravely helping the rest of Greece during these past days.

I've just returned from having read your own account, Hydriot. The owner of that home under restoration that is now again in ruins must be sickened to his core. As you've noted regarding his likely lack of insurance, who knows whether he'll ever be able or even motivated to try to restore it again. The surreal tree is very representative of the extreme and diligent efforts of the firefighters, to have halted the fire mid-tree. Your description of your sitting place of refuge is very graphic, the same as what remains of that man's destroyed efforts to create a home for living.


~ Lizzy

[lizzytysh]

I'm so used to getting blocked from this computer, when I check links, that I was going to wait to try this one. I finally decided to at least try and it worked. This particular photo gives a real feeling for the extent of damage:

Fire devastation along the coast of Hydra island

With some of the others, it's amazing how close the fires came, and what valued parts of people's lives they still destroyed. I'm glad for what was saved, thanks to the pilots and the on-ground firefighters and dedicated locals.

"Rhubarbs from a rock" has been VERY highly recommended to me and I considered buying it when I was there this past summer. However, the cost for an expenditure at that moment was just too high. One of those that will have to wait until another year, or until I'm able to have it sent to me here. At some point, I'll for sure be reading it, though. Invaluable info.


~ Lizzy

[jimbo]

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