Southern europe destroyed in fires. What to do?

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet

But do you agree you should contribute more to fire protection here?

No, not really.

However, I would support some kind of disaster relief fund that ALL european countries paid into and that was for helping the victims of disaster in ALL of those countries. (Fire, flood, earthquake etc..)

That is what I am talking about!

If there is money left from the fires, sure, lets fight floods too

But seriously, yes, this is a far better way to spend money then joint armed forces or simmilar nonsense.

[Az]

In days such as these, planes should be at a standby numbered in minutes! I don't think enough is done.

[VetLegion]

Ofcourse not enough is done! We don't have enough planes!

I am trying to find a number on how much Portugal burned but I cant. I heard about one third. It will take decades for them to recover.

[August Borms]

Yup, the southern Europeans are too poor and too lazy to solve their own problems, so we should help them

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by August Borms
Yup, the southern Europeans are too poor and too lazy to solve their own problems, so we should help them

You should

- Too poor?

How can we be rich when our timber exports are next to none, thanks to negligence of north europeans. Did you know a thrown away coca-cola can can act as lens and start a forest fire? Think about that.

- Too lazy?

We aren't allowed to have holidays in the summer, just because our country is burning (thanks to you)? Hypocrite northener

[August Borms]

You're absolutely right, I'll start a campaign to collect aluminium foil for the poor little southerners, like my parents/grandparents used to do for the poor little negroes in the Congo

[CerberusIV]

Re: Southern europe destroyed in fires. What to do?

Originally posted by VetLegion
It annoyed me to no end to see in news every day how my country (and also Portugal, France, Greece..) burns while I was sitting in the shade and drinking a cool drink and played cards, etc. The news took some pleasure out of my holidays

And what exactly have YOU done about this problem, apart from calling for someone else to pay for it?

I smell a true european!

On a more serious note, forests burn from time to time. It's natural for them to do so and promotes regeneration. To paraphrase another poster "If God hadn't meant for there to be forest fires, he wouldn't have made trees out of WOOD".

[ottok]

"If God hadn't meant for there to be forest fires, he wouldn't have made trees out of WOOD".

paradoric?

[VetLegion]

Cerberus we are not talking about forests burning we are talking about countries burning. A third of Portugal. Is that supposed to happen?

These forests are not in the least natural. They are lit by subversive elements and Belgian terrorists such as A. Broms here. Humans, if you stretch the definition

And what I have done is not important, what is important is what you should be doing? Since obviously, you are doing too little.

[VetLegion]

Originally posted by ottok
"If God hadn't meant for there to be forest fires, he wouldn't have made trees out of WOOD".

paradoric?

Exacty. Remind me to regenerate some english forests when I go there next time

[Chemical Ollie]

You are burning for this topic aren't you?

Perhaps the Yanks can help you by sending a Bush?

[Flandrien]

Vet, what you are doing is simple trolling and helps nobody.


These arsonists should be caught, that's all.

[VetLegion]

Flandrien, no, it is not trolling (in the best case, it is I who is being trolled )

There will always be arsonists, every new generation will bring new ones to us. It can't be helped. But by investing more in firefighting we can reduce the damage.

So I start a discussion how rest of europe can help southern europe and I get trashed as being 'poor and lazy'

[CerberusIV]

OK, let's be serious for a moment.

So at least some of the fires were deliberate. Then catching the people who started them is a job for the police in the countries affected.

Firefighting services are the responsibility of the regional and national governments in the areas affected. If the politicians have neglected investment in the service they should be held to account.

Are these forests actively managed? Who owns them and have the landowners actually done any work to thin out trees, remove dead trees and all the other things that constitute forest management. In the UK there are grants available to help pay for such work. Some of the funding is from the EU AFAIK so it should be available elsewhere in europe for similar purposes.

I remember a TV programme a few years ago about Yellowstone National Park in the USA. They had a policy of putting out all fires, then one year they had a massive fire that devastated a lot of the park because all the dead wood and undergrowth had not been burned out by smaller fires. Now they allow some fires to burn and don't get big ones any more.

My point is that it is OK to ask for help in a crisis but not without looking at why things have got so bad and not without a plan to stop it happening on this scale again in the future.

So, apart from this being an exceptionally dry year, what other factors and neglect have contributed?

[CerberusIV]

As for starting a few fires in UK forests, it is possible but most of our woodland is planted and has firebreaks kept clear. It is also too wet for most of the year.

If you like living somewhere sunny (and I am thinking about moving to southern europe because I loathe the UK climate) there is a downside. Get used to it or come and live in the UK.