Fires in Greece

Fires don't get any nastier. One story reported the charred remains of a woman and her four children, found huddled together, and today all news stations report that the fires threaten the site of the ancient Olympics.

This photo from Yahoo is captioned:

A fire burns inside the archaeological stadium of ancient Olympia in south Peloponnese, about 350 km (217 miles) from Athens, August 26, 2007. Firefighters battled to save ancient Olympia on Sunday as Greece's worst forest fires in decades ravaged hills around the historic site and the death toll rose to 56. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE)

The 2500-year-old Temple of Apollo Epikourios is also threatened.

Living in southern California, we have our share of horrible fires whipped up by high winds, and I've blogged before on how they both threaten and reveal archaelogical sites. But the woman and her four children is a nightmarish image; I have to wonder how that happened. Lack of communication? Shortage of firefighters (although other countries have sent help)? Hell-raising speed of the flames?

Probably the speed; the story cited above says that the fire has moved a mile in three minutes.