27-Jul-07 - In answer to a question from a visitor on the island - Fire fighting planes and helicoptors by the nature of their purpose must fly very low, as close to the source of the fire as possible. At night time they can of course see the fires very well but they can't see the surrounding terrain, which on Hydra is very mountainous. Their work is incredibly dangerous during the day when visibility is often hampered by thick black smoke and there is very little room for error and no time to take evasive action. The photo taken at 5 in the evening on Thursday 26th July shows much clearer skies over the back of Kamini above Hydra Town. You can see just how close and low down the planes get so that the much needed water is dropped on the seat of the fire. If the water is released too high it would just evaporate and do no good at all. It would be absolutely impossible to do this at night time.