Fire rages close to an archaeological site in Ancient Olympia. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)(ATR) The buildings of the International Olympic Academy have survived the onslaught of fire that swept through Olympia, Greece this weekend. But the fire has still left ugly scars at the birthplace of the modern Olympics.
All the vegetation and trees surrounding the lush campus have burned away, Around the Rings is told. Included in the destruction is the grove of cypress trees that surrounded an obelisk memorial containing the heart of Olympics founder Pierre de Coubertin.
IOC President Jacques Rogge tells ATR he has talked to Hellenic Olympic Committee President Mynos Kyriakou, who is also president of the academy.
"It's very sad," Rogge said, not only for the devastation in Olympia he said, but for the loss of life and whole villages across Greece in the past week of fire storms. More than 60 people have died in the fires.
Rogge says Kyriakou told him that only the greenery of the academy was destroyed as the fire came down the hillside of Mount Kronos, which overlooks the ancient site of Olympia.
The fire stopped just short of ancient Olympia, across the road from the academy. Near the ancient site, a team of firefighters kept the flames from reaching the newly renovated museum that contains some of the great archeological treasures excavated from Olympia.
Hellenic Olympic Committee press officer Tassos Papachristou tells ATR "the fire that hit the sacred area of Ancient Olympia has been put out and we are already evaluating the damages".
"The conference hall as well as the rest of the buildings at the IOA premises have A satellite view of the fires spreading across southern Greece. (Google Earth/NASA)been salvaged with only a few material losses," he reports.
"There are no problems at the Museum of Ancient Olympia and the Ancient Stadium although they were temporarily in great jeopardy," says Papachristou.
Fire department spokesman Nikos Diamandis said 89 new fires started during the 24-hour period beginning at 6 a.m. Sunday.
Following Greece's appeal for help, 19 countries responded by sending planes, helicopters and firefighters. A helicopter airlifted five people to safety on Monday from the village of Prasidaki in southern Greece
A top Greek official who prosecutes terrorism and organized crime ordered an investigation into whether the crimes of arsonists and of arson attacks on forests could come under Greece's anti-terrorism law, the Public Order Ministry said.
Although forest fires frequently occur during Greece's hot, dry summers, the number of fires has alarmed and outraged Greek citizens.
In a nationally televised address Saturday, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said, "So many fires breaking out simultaneously in so many parts of the country cannot be a coincidence."
Culture Minister George Voulgarakis was heckled by residents Sunday when he visited Ancient Olympia to see the firefighting efforts.
"The government was totally unable to deal with this situation," Gerassimos Kaproulias, an Ancient Olympia schoolteacher, told the Associated Press.
Several arrests have been made on suspicion of arson, but not all of the fires were thought to be intentional. However, a man was charged with arson and homicide in connection with a fire near the southern town of Areopolis on Friday that killed six people.
According to the Associated Press, developers are forbidden to build on forest land in Greece, but some try to get around the law by burning down forests. Because Greece has no land registry, once an area has been burned and cleared, there is no record that it was initially forest land.
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