In a landscape completely burned by the fires of the previous day, “Asim Zeneli”, a small village about 5 kilometers away from Gjirokastra, seems to have suffered the greatest damage.
the anores were found unprepared as the fire of the previous day, in a few minutes, favored and by the wind approached the houses full of greenery endangering the lives of many inhabitants. The fire has burned not a few fruit and vineyard areas around them, but with minor damage to residential environments thanks to the rapid intervention.
Vojsava Shena says that she herself burned an olive grove where her son had invested for 12 years. But the woman says that she is deeply affected by the fire loss of one of her fellow villagers, 64-year-old Andrea Haxhiaj, who lost her life while defending the house and his wife was seriously injured. Vojsava says she has family members in Greece and escaped thanks to help from police and firefighters.
“The police rescued me. My son burned 120 olive roots. I have a son in Greece. He barely worked 12 years to make the olives. Other vineyards were burnt down and we said come on they will be done again without any problem. “When we heard about these wonderful spouses, one of whom lost his life, he poisoned our hearts and we can not stand on our feet.”
The mayor of Gjirokastra, Flamur Golemi, says that the three fires appeared immediately yesterday and caused great damage that have already started to be assessed.
“We are calculating the damages to see the situation of small hearths that can be activated. There are more than 156 army forces on the ground, firefighting forces of the municipality of Gjirokastra to curse the small fires that if reactivated, the winds can become problematic. We have about 700 ha of forests, pastures, burned fields. We have about 10 hectares of vineyards but what is most serious is the loss of a human life and this is the biggest disaster we have had. “
While life is back in the village, the residents will not forget the dramatic images of the fires of the previous day that are not remembered in their village. A few kilometers away from “Asim Zeneli” the houses of the village of Krina in the middle of the greenery were endangered by the flames.
Zaharaq Londi says he lost consciousness suffocated by the smoke and escaped thanks to emergency intervention.
“If it were not for the police and the fire brigade, I too would have died and the house would have been burned down. “I was lying in the square because I was blocked by smoke and they saved me.”
Zaharaqi says the vineyards, which are his love of life, were burned.
“If you see the grapes that I have on the side of the road, it is burnt. I do not know that I am tense and I am afraid of suffering anything. I started to see him from a distance, I cried and ran away. “
The small villages, significantly affected by emigration, have few inhabitants, mainly elderly and thanks to the evacuation intervention there was no loss of life, but among the cases there were also residents who refused to leave their homes risking their lives.
Fires are still present today on a small scale and occasionally fire departments, ambulances and army troops move in the area. The head of the Civil Emergency Service in Albania, Haki Çako, says that this is a difficult period.
“Albania has asked for the help of some countries and the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have provided helicopters to extinguish the fires.“. says Mr. Çako.
As the consequences of fires become even greater year after year, public attention is often on punishing arsonists where cases are almost completely absent.
Regarding the recent fires in Gjirokastra, the police are conducting investigations into the causes of their downfall. Police sources said that they are investigating based on the testimonies given by the residents themselves in the three areas where three powerful fires appeared almost at the same time on Tuesday afternoon: in the village of “Asim Zeneli”, the village of Krina and the village of Arshi Lengo ”. Gjirokastra police spokeswoman Oltiana Nano told VOA that more than five people have been questioned and are shepherds who rent pastures from administrative units, or residents. No arrests have been made so far, Ms. Nano said.
From the cases investigated before, the shepherds are among the most suspected persons for the burning of the pastures which then fail to be controlled and spread massively.
Gjirokastra Deputy Mayor Ylli Muho said he was convinced that the cause of the recent fires were irresponsible shepherds seeking to improve pastures by turning this situation into a catastrophe with very high temperatures in July and August. Mr. Muho said that “if the law enforcement bodies from the investigations will reveal the authorship of the shepherds for the latest fires, the municipality will immediately cancel the contracts in these areas where the fires took place”.
The day before, Gjirokastra Police said they detained a 59-year-old man from the village of Valare on the outskirts of the city. According to police he is accused of property destruction by negligence. According to police, the person detained by burning some plastic waste near his property has become the cause of a wider fire where a plot of land with viticulture was burned.
In the attention of the public in such situations of fire emergencies also remains the small capacity with tools and equipment, especially of fire departments that depend on local government. Most firefighting interventions are old and out of standard for operating in difficult terrain, and firefighters often face a lack of fire protection equipment./ Taken from VOA
