The fire is out

The fire at Areopoli which started either late on Monday evening or early Tuesday morning now seems to be extinguished.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, we went down to the beach for a swim, with temperatures in the mid 90's now for about a week you need to cool down a bit! Without any wind, the sea was very calm. About the first 10 meters of water from the beach was coated with black soot from the fire, small pieces of grasses, and leaves still recognisable by their shape. It was obviously more than just smoke that we had seen in the morning.

For three days, planes and helicopters have been flying past us on the way to the fire, but today we have only seen the small 'spotter planes' that regularly fly up and down the coast checking for fires. The reports on the news indicate that 'hundreds of houses have been destroyed', about 5,000 hectares (almost 20 square miles) of land burnt and extensive damage to services such as electricity.