VZCZCXRO4886
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTH #2143/01 3050521
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010521Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0631
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB PRIORITY 0332
RUEHTI/AMEMBASSY TIRANA PRIORITY 1292
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE PRIORITY 1106
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 1571
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB PRIORITY 0333
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 4233
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1955
RUEHMD/AMEMX MADRID PRIORITY 1199PRIORITY 0269
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ATHENS 002143 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT ALSO PASS TO USAID/W, 
USAID/W FOR A/AID HFORE 
DCHA/AA FOR MHESS, GGOTTLIEB 
DCHA/OFDA FOR KLUU, AFERRARA, ACONVERY, RANDREW, MMICHAUD 
STATE FOR EUR/EX, EUR/SE, EUR/ACE 
AGRICULTURE FOR MREY, GKIMBALL, THARBOUR, SSAVOLAINE 
FAS For RCURTIS 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH, RMA 
USUN FOR TMALEY 
NSC FOR PMARCHAM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS:          
 
SUBJECT:  GREECE WILDFIRES USAID SITUATION REPORT 2 - SECOND BURNED 
AREAS EMERGENCY RESPONSE TECHNICAL TEAM VISIT 
 
REFS: A) ATHENS 1687 B) ATHENS 1700 C) ATHENS 1707 D)ATHENS 1800 
 
 
------- 
Summary 
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 1.  The 2007 wildfire season in Greece was the worst on record, 
killing 76 people, destroying nearly 3,000 buildings, and burning 
327,000 hectares on Evia Island, Crete and the Western Peloponnese. 
The Greek Ministries of National Economy and Agricultural 
Development estimated that the total damage to the agriculture 
sector alone may exceed EURO 1.5 billion (more than USD 2.1 
billion). 
 
 2. On August 27, U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires a.i. Thomas 
Countryman declared a disaster as a result of the wildfires.  In 
response, USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance 
(USAID/OFDA) provided more than $750,000 in emergency relief 
supplies and committed an additional $1.35 million to the U.S. 
Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USFS) International 
Programs Office through the Disaster Assistance Support Program 
(DASP) for fire fighting equipment and technical assistance to 
support the GoG's fire management and disaster response 
capabilities. 
 
 3.  According to the second U.S. technical team, which traveled to 
Greece in October 2007, some GoG agencies and Greek organizations 
have capacity to obtain remote sensing (RS) data, but do not appear 
to have the ability to process it into secondary burn severity 
models.  The team further noted that minimal coordination and 
communication mechanisms exist among GoG ministries, within the 
community of public and private organizations addressing 
fire-related issues, and between national, regional, and local 
responders.  Overall disaster response systems could be strengthened 
through Incident Command System (ICS) trainings.  In addition, 
public awareness on wildfires can be further strengthened. (End 
Summary) 
 
----------------------------------------- 
U.S. Technical Assistance and Cooperation 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 4.  At the GoG's request, and in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy 
in Athens, USAID/OFDA deployed a six-person interagency technical 
team from September 2 - 9 to assess the impact of the wildfires, 
evaluate potential hazards created by newly burned terrain, and 
identify technical cooperation possibilities with the GoG to address 
the current emergency and longer term wildfire management.  Noting 
steep and potentially unstable slopes in many burned areas of the 
Peloponnese, the team recommended follow-on evaluations of landslide 
and flooding hazards in fire-affected areas, specifically through 
the preparation of burn severity maps based on remote sensing and 
geographic information systems (GIS) data (REFTEL). 
 
 5.  Between September 9 and October 14, USFS technical team members 
worked closely with the USFS Remote Sensing Applications Center 
(RSAC), and the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resource Observation 
and Science Center, to obtain pre- and post-burn satellite imagery 
(LANDSAT) of wildfire-affected areas of Greece.  Following up on 
interest expressed by GoG officials, RSAC processed this imagery and 
developed burn severity maps for most of the wildfire-affected areas 
in Greece. 
 
 6. From October 13 to 26, a second USAID/OFDA and USFS team traveled 
to Greece to demonstrate how the satellite-derived images and burn 
 
ATHENS 00002143  002 OF 004 
 
 
severity models could be used to identify areas at highest risk for 
subsequent flooding, landslides, and debris flows.  This information 
could then be used to prioritize GoG response efforts and resources. 
 To accomplish this task, the team traveled to Olympia, in the 
western Peloponnese region, where many of the most severe fires 
occurred. 
 
 7.  The U.S. team spent seven days in Olympia, Ilia Prefecture, 
working with four Greek Forestry officials from national and 
prefecture offices to assess newly generated flood, landslide, and 
soil erosion risks in the Kladeos River watershed.  (Note:  Greek 
officials initially focused on Ilia, as the region suffered the 
majority of damage with roughly 43 percent of the region's forest 
lost to the fires.  The Kladeos watershed site, within Ilia, was 
then chosen by Greek officials due to its proximity to Ancient 
Olympia, an international cultural treasure situated at the 
confluence of the Kladeos and Alpheios rivers. End Note.) 
 
 8. The U.S. Team shared USFS Burned Area EmergencyResponse (BAER) 
assessment tools and processe, which included identifying values at 
risk, field validation of burn severity mapping, information 
integration with locally available topographical and geological 
data, slope stability and erosion modeling, high risk area 
identification, and possible treatment options. 
 
 9.  Following the case study, the U.S. team and Greek Forestry 
officials jointly presented their findings in Patras to 
representatives from the office of the Secretary General of the 
Periphery of Western Greece, as well as to officials responsible for 
the construction, maintenance, and funding of public works projects 
in Western Greece.  In Athens, the U.S. team also presented findings 
to the Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Food, the Director 
General from the Greek Forestry Service Department, and other 
technical representatives from the Greek Forestry Service. 
 
 10.  In addition to discussion with Greek Forestry officials, the 
team also met with representatives of the GoG General Secretariat 
for Civil Protection, Department of Emergency Planning; Olympia 
Hellenic Fire Brigade representatives; staff from local 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and geological experts from 
the local polytechnic university. 
 
--------------------------- 
Findings and Recommendation 
--------------------------- 
 
Remote Sensing Imagery and GIS 
 
 11.  Finding: Greek Forest Service counterparts were interested in 
the BAER team's Burn Severity mapping process, particularly the 
speed with which these maps can be generated to help prioritize 
areas, and expressed interest in building local capacity to generate 
such maps.  In addition to training on how to process these maps, 
the U.S. technical team noted that the GoG faces larger 
institutional challenges in building overall remote sensing 
capacity. 
 
 12.  The U.S. team determined that GoG agencies and other Greek 
organizations have access to RS and GIS maps but do not have 
formalized relationships with either national or European agencies 
for processing the data for further image analysis.  Meeting 
participants also noted a lack of coordination for sharing GIS and 
RS information among various GoG ministries and between national, 
local, and academic institutions.  In addition, meeting participants 
noted an age gap in the GoG's attitudes toward new technologies, 
with junior officials more open to new technologies, such as GIS and 
 
ATHENS 00002143  003 OF 004 
 
 
RS, than senior GoG officials.  The U.S. team was impressed with the 
GIS capacity of individual GoG officials, some of whom were 
self-taught, and were overall convinced that Greece has the capacity 
to obtain, process, and utilize post-fire imagery if it supports its 
employees in training, software, and hardware. 
 
 13. Recommendation: Remote sensing technological transfer is a 
possible collaborative opportunity but would require a commitment 
from the Greek government to further support GIS and RS capacity 
building in order for the maps and data to have an impact in 
national- and field-based decision making. 
 
Post Burn Treatments 
 
 14.  Findings: The U.S. team noted that representatives in most of 
the fire-affected areas have previous experience with wild fires and 
flood-management and have developed methods of addressing post-fire 
risks and flood hazards, such as installing river level sensors to 
warn of possible floods.  The technical assistance team observed 
that the two most immediate post fire treatments used in Greece are 
log erosion barriers (LEB) and check dams.  These techniques are 
used in the United States, but sparingly.  The Kladeos Watershed 
case study exposed the Greek participants to additional treatments, 
including mulching, debris dams, and debris risers.  In 
post-workshop briefings, the Greek Forestry officials recommended 
further exploration of these treatments, in particular investigating 
mulching. 
 
 15.  Recommendations: USFS can provide further information on 
mulching and other treatments that may be appropriate for Greece.  A 
complementary monitoring program could be developed to assess the 
effectiveness of new or ongoing treatments. 
 
Incident Command Systems and Overall Coordination 
 
 16.  Findings:  Discussions in both Athens and the field reiterated 
a finding from the first U.S. technical team mission to Greece: 
coordination and clarification of roles and responsibilities during 
fire suppression activities could be improved.  The current mission 
noted coordination and communication issues also exist during post 
fire assessment activities.  Dialogue between the prefectures, the 
Ministry of Interior, the Hellenic Fire Brigade, and the Greek 
Forestry Service could be strengthened, as could the dialogue among 
different GoG ministries. 
 
Fire Suppreon Tactics 
 
 17. FindQade, who had primQoG interest was non-committal. During the second team 
visit, GoG officials communicated that the GoG would be interested 
in exploring fire-suppression tools, such as fire retardant. 
 
 18.  Recommendations: USFS should continue its dialogue with fire 
fighting units to explore further fire tactical trainings and use of 
fire retardant. 
 
---------- 
Conclusion 
---------- 
 
 19. The US Technical Team is preparing a final report that will be 
distributed back to GoG agencies and the U.S. Embassy in Athens to 
 
ATHENS 00002143  004 OF 004 
 
 
help outline possible next step activities. 
 
COUNTRYMAN