Fire Truck Departs27-Jul-07 - It is with great relief that we can confirm that the fires on Hydra have been extinguished. From about 13:00 all stations on the island reported no new outbreaks and the planes and helicopters ceased dropping water. During the afternoon we experienced electricity cuts and the phones and comms lines were out as well just while the repairs to damaged lines could be completed. The professional firemen and their engines have departed and Hydra has been officially declared "back to normal".

Around the island, particularly in the interior, there are still smouldering patches that are being damped down and a constant watch is being kept but generally this episode can be said to have closed although over the next couple of days you might still see helicopters dropping water on the back of the island as a precaution. The final extent of the area damaged by the fire is approximately two thirds of the island but none of the main inhabited areas, Hydra Town, Kamini, Kiaffa, Vlichos and Palamitha, have been touched and today people arriving in the harbour with the dolphins would not notice anything amiss. However a walk up to the monasteries and over the hills shows a different picture. There are still patches of forest left above Kamini and at the western end of Hydra, the forest around Molos, Bisti and Agios Nikolaous are still intact and unaffected.

Rumours and conspiricy theories abound but we think that common sense dictates that in a place where the temperatures sore to the mid forties in blinding sunlight, on to rubbish that is thrown into an open dump where lots of glass is scattered around, it is only a matter of time before the reflective action with result in a fire. Rather than cast around for a scapegoat to blame, it would be better to lobby the municipality to have the rubbish dump made safer and more environmentally sound.

And finally to round off the coverage of the 2007 fire of Hydra, we again say thank you to the wonderful people who worked so tirelessly to save as much of the island as they have.