The sea-planes hover over the bay of Paliopoli, as the kamikaze pilots dive to
re-fill their empty bellies with sea-water and rain on the often unreachable fire-fronts. The mountains surrounding Mitata, have been alight for four days and the luscious green tapestry of gardens and olive fields gifted to today by the hard-work of ancestors, is now a mere scalded moonscape. From the back of Friligianika (near the airport) to Fratsia, it is if you are standing on another planet.

The absolute devastation goes way beyond the eye's reach.We are not talking about a square kilometre...but thousands of stremata (acres) of farm land. Land that had continued to be cultivated once the Venetians left and the British came and the Nazis goose-stepped through the laneways. When the packed ships where leaving with children the gardens were still tended.

Whose to blame: According to various accounts, the fire began on the morning of 14 August below Agia Moni (on the Diakofti road) next to a water tank. What is obvious that the heated crisis management approach of the fire chief and politicians has proven disastrous......mismanagement spirals into flamin' chaos.....