Forest fires turn into a tourism problem

Just last night, troops of Greek firemen had a hard time battling the immense fire that struck Kefalonia, Peloponnese and other nearby areas. Reportedly, the fire had spread in those areas quite rapidly that it became uncontrollable. The fire devastated residences and inns in Kefalonia, groped to eat up villages in Peloponnese, and destroyed areas even reaching the northern border.

According to experts, the fire must have been triggered by the surprising temperature rise in the capital yesterday, as it peaked at 45C or 113F. Yesterday was recorded as Athens’ hottest day in its history. In addition to the high temperature, firefighters also had to struggle as the blaze quickly spread from one area to another.

"We will soon be asking which part of the country is not ablaze," a TV broadcaster mused—with pun unintended—while doing his report.

When the fire was doused, people saw its casualties that it was believed to be the worst of its kind recorded in modern history. It took only three weeks for the fire to destroy Greece—much worse than all those disasters in the past four years put together.

On a different note, the government also worries about the impact of the said fire on the tourism sector. Reportedly, the country gains the most revenue from tourism. For this week alone, several resorts failed to gain as much as usual, as forest fires also struck areas apart from Kefalonia.