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Salamina Wildfire: Resident Recounts Desperate Fight to Save Home
🇬🇷 Greece /Disasters & Emergencies

Salamina Wildfire: Resident Recounts Desperate Fight to Save Home

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • A resident of Salamina, Greece, describes his desperate efforts to save his home from a wildfire.
  • He used wet towels to protect windows and frames from the flames, preventing significant interior damage.
  • While his home was partially saved, the fire devastated the neighborhood and claimed two lives.

Angelos Hatzis surveys the charred remains of his home in Peristeri, Salamina, a stark contrast to the dream summer retreat he meticulously built since acquiring it in 1996. The wildfire that swept through the area left behind ashes, destroyed homes, and a community shrouded in grief. "When we built it, it was a fairytale house. Now it's from another... fairytale, with only bad elements," Hatzis told Tanea.gr.

When we built it, it was a fairytale house. Now it's from another... fairytale, with only bad elements.

— Angelos HatzisDescribing the transformation of his home after the wildfire.

The fire, he explained, originated on the back of the hill and advanced towards the area. A neglected, debris-filled gully, not cleared since the previous year's storm, acted as an accelerant. "Until I left the kitchen to see what was happening, the roof tiles were already burning," he recounted.

What followed was a personal battle for survival. "I said I'll give it my all or take it all," Hatzis stated, describing how he soaked towels and used them to shield windows and frames, preventing the flames from breaching the interior. "I stuck them to the windows and frames, and thus a large part of it didn't burn."

Until I left the kitchen to see what was happening, the roof tiles were already burning.

— Angelos HatzisRecounting the rapid spread of the fire.

He described the house as a labor of love, a place where he spent most of his time in recent months. "My passion, my obsession, my indignation to save what I could was such. I said I'll give it my all, or take it all. I had reached my limit." The potential for the fire to enter the house, with its old construction and polystyrene insulation within the plaster, was terrifying. "If the plaster fell and the polystyrene caught fire, the house would blow up." The roof alone sustained an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 euros in damage, with additional losses including cameras and air conditioning wiring.

I said I'll give it my all or take it all.

— Angelos HatzisExpressing his determination to save his home.

But for Hatzis, the greatest damage is immeasurable. "It doesn't matter how beautiful it was. What matters is that we had a good time," he said, now facing a blackened shell of his home. The fire not only ravaged the landscape but also claimed the lives of two elderly residents nearby. "Now who stays here? If we look here, what will we see? A black thing," he concluded, reflecting on the devastation.

I stuck them to the windows and frames, and thus a large part of it didn't burn.

— Angelos HatzisExplaining his method of using wet towels to protect his house.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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