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1 |
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GFX TEXT: A TRAGIC FIRE IN GREECE… |
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DAY
01_CARD 01 @ [00:20:45] D: There were tears, screaming but we
were all saying we wanted to live. |
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2 |
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GFX TEXT: 99 DEAD…COULD THEY HAVE BEEN SAVED |
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[01:27:52]
M: Most of the kids were all together.[01:28:00] [01:30:06] M: And that's something that has impacted
us hard in our soul and we will never forget |
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3 |
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GFX TEXT:
MATI WANTS ANSWERS |
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00:18:53]
(Woman) We do not need you, you are useless! [00:18:57] (Woman) Incompetent! |
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GFX TEXT: AUSSIE GREEKS WANT TO HELP |
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DAY
4_CARD 6 -00:37:36
when Greece burns we feel the heat. [DAY 7 CARD 10] 00:19:25] BILL: I'm devastated by
what I've seen today. It's way worse than I'd imagined |
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FROM
MELBOURNE TO MATI / EVAN WILLIAMS & NAIMA BROWN |
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VO + AUDIO |
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GREECE > ATHENS > MATI |
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6 |
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VO: THIS
HOUSE HAS BEEN IN DIMITRI KARDIAKOS’ FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS… |
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GREECE_DAY01_CARD 1 @ 01:27:06:24 – CHEESE GRATER
& CAKE TIN – THIS IS FOR THE
CHEESE FOR PARMESAN AND THIS IS MAKE A CAKE – EV: ALL THE STUFF YOU GREW UP
WITH |
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VO: NEARLY
TWO MONTHS AFTER HIS HOME WAS DESTROYED IN A CATASTOPHIC FIRE, FEW ITEMS ARE
LEFT…JUST DECADES OF MEMORIES HARDEST OF
ALL IS THE MEMORY OF THE DAY OF THE FIRE |
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8 |
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[00:12:26:16] D: You don't see fire at the beginning
but you feel a kind of heat as if you are opening the oven you cook in. The
heat burns you but you don't see the fire. It burns your skin. [TRIM] |
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VO: THE FIRE
HERE IN MATI, WAS THE WORST GREECE HAS EVER SEEN |
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9 |
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You didn't even have the chance to save yourself I climbed onto the roof of the block of flats nearby
and I saw the fire was within 100 metres I felt
that the fire had passed the road and it was coming closer. |
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VO: IN THE
PANIC, DIMITRIS SENT HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN TO THE SEA. HE THEN WENT BACK TOWARDS THE FIRE … IN A DESPERATE
ATTEMPT TO FIND HIS PARENTS. |
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10 |
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[00:13:51:19]D: I left my children to come and save
my parents - I reached the corner just here (signalling)
and the heat was burning me. [00:14:06]D: But I couldn't reach them. I left
for the sea. [00:18:18]D: I believed that they had died. That's the truth. |
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11 |
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[01:50:06] E: And as you ran down here how fast was
the fire coming? [01:50:12] D: The fire was coming quicker than me. I
was running and the fire was running too. The flames had reached up to there (signalling).[01:50:21] |
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12 |
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VO: THE
FIRESTORM CHASED DIMITRIS DOWN TO THIS INTERSECTION WHICH WAS JAMMED WITH
CARS FULL OF PEOPLE TRYING TO FLEE |
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[01:59:56] E: how many vehicles were here at the
time? [02:00:00] D: About 100. |
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13 |
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[02:00:17] D: there was a panic. Returning from the
house which had burnt and going to save my children who were in the sea, I
moved between this panic and I saw people trapped others screaming, others
had accidents between themselves.[02:00:33] |
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14 |
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[00:05:06] E: So you came here and where were your
daughters? Your children? [00:05:10] D: On the rock with my wife and
mother-in-law. All on this rock because all this is burning On this rock, I have video of this. [CUT TO HIS VID] |
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VO: NOBODY THOUGHT THIS FIRE WOULD MOVE SO
FAR, SO FAST…THERE HAD BEEN NO WARNING TO FLEE |
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[00:58:11]
D: not even was there a helicopter to shine light on the people to save them.
We couldn't see anything through the smoke. No one even came from the sea to
save the people |
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[00:16:09] D: everything was exploding- It was like
a state of war. DAY 01_CARD 01 @ [00:20:45] D: There were tears, screaming but
we were all saying we wanted to live. |
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VO:
DIMITRIS’ PARENTS WERE ALSO IN THE SEA…ALONG WITH HIS WIFE & CHILDREN…THANKFULLY,
THEY SURVIVED. AMONG THE
DEAD WERE DIMITRI’S LIFELONG FRIENDS |
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DAY 1_CARD
1 @[00:50:07] D: I have three cousins that are dead
and around 20 persons close friend. an old friend. I know him 30 years [00:51:00] E: What sort of person was he? [00:51:04]
d: it's very difficult because he's a close friend (crying). It's difficult
to lose a person that you know so well. My daughter lost one close friend |
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16 |
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FADE / TRANSITION |
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17 |
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04:31:01 – bill: this will be a great night, sold
out I presume, 2000 people 04:34:20 – bill walk in |
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VO: A LONG WAY FROM MATI, BILL PAPASTERGIADIS IS RAISING MONEY WITH MELBOURNE’S
GREEK COMMUNITY |
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00:29:33:15 well ive come to support a great cause of course raising money
for all those poor people in greece who just copped
it in the fires 00:39:24:11 – its for a good cause a lot of people have suffered |
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19 |
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01:05:20 -
BILL’S SPEECH: IT WAS THE WORST FIRE IN EUROPE THIS CENTURY |
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22 |
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THOUGHTRACK: DAY 4_CARD 6 -00:37:36 when
Greece burns we feel the heat. |
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24 |
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[00:36:33] BILL: for Greek Australians there is
almost an umbilical connection to the mother land pain felt in Greece, We
felt that immediately in Australia. |
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24B |
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VO: BILL IS ON HIS WAY TO MATI. HE’S HAS
200,000 DOLLARS WITH HIM RAISED BY MELBOURNE’S GREEK COMMUNITY TO DONATE TO
THOSE WHO NEED IT MOST |
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24D |
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[00:39:29] I'm here
to do my bit as small as it is to provide some help and assistance |
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BILL
PENSIVE DRIVING |
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50 |
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VO: TAKES ME TO
MEET MATI’S VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTERS. THEY WERE VASTLY UNDER-RESOURCED THAT
DAY… AND ARE STILL TRYING TO MAKES SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED… |
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BREATHE – TRANSITION TO NEW LOCATION |
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51 |
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[01:29:51:10] M [01:30:06] M: And that's something that has impacted
us hard in our soul and we will never forget it.[01:30:10] [01:30:21] M: And we ask for forgiveness from the
people who lost their family members, all of us who weren't able to overcome
it on that day.[01:30:32] |
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47 |
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VO: …NOTHING IN HIS MIKE TSIGOURIS
19 YEARS OF SERVICE COULD HAVE PREPARED HIM FOR WHAT HE ENCOUNTERED…A GROUP
OF 26 PEOPLE WHO’D LOST THEIR LIVES…HUDDLED TOGETHER ON TOP OF A CLIFF BUT
JUST METRES FROM THE SEA… |
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DAY 3_CARD 4 [01:23:24] M: It looked like the people
had tried to move towards the sea, because they knew they could save
themselves there. But simply, they didn't make it. Especially with the kids,
it looked like there was a lot of anguish by their parents, their grandpa, to
protect them. We could see that even if they were dead.[01:23:42] |
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49 |
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[01:22:25] M: And 9 kids. [01:27:52] M: Most of the kids were all
together.[01:28:00] [01:28:09] M: We found some who were hugging, some
who had tried to leave by themselves, it was chaotic[01:28:27] |
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LET THIS BREATHE A FOR A MOMENT & THEN SOMBER
TRANSITION INTO NEXT SCENE |
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26 |
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VO: WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE 26
VICTIMS WAS DEVASTATING…BUT IT WAS SHEER LUCK THAT SAVED THE LIVES OF ANOTHER
40 CHILDREN NEARBY AS THE FIRE WHICH STARTED HIGH IN
THE MOUNTAINS SPREAD QUICKLY DOWN TOWARDS THE SEA PUSHED BY STRONG WINDS, IT
BLAZED THROUGH THE LYRIO ORPHANGE… |
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28 |
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DAY 7_CARD 10 @ [00:29:08] (Bill) Father, good to
see you, here is Mr. Evan. [00:29:12] (Father) Hello, I'm very happy to see you [00:29:19] This was the orphanage father? [00:29:20] (Father) One of the homes of the
orphanage. [00:33:09] How many live here at this moment? [00:33:22] (Father) Around 40 kids |
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VO: FOR
CHILDREN WHO HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED LOSS AND ABANDONMENT…THIS HOUSE WAS A
REFUGE |
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32 |
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[00:36:06] This was the children's reading room [00:36:19] And here a library and a reading room [00:36:22] That is what is left from books |
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[00:35:14] Here was the kitchen, and here it is what
has been left from the refrigerator. The sink was here. |
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VO: MIRACULOUSLY,
THE DAY BEFORE THE FIRE, THE CHILDREN ALL LEFT FOR SUMMER CAMP…THE
PRIEST SAYS, HAD THEY BEEN HERE THEY WOULD HAVE UNDOUBTEDLY PERISHED - THERE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ENOUGH TIME TO
EVACUATE |
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[00:16:57]
There's nothing left, school yards, playgrounds, out buildings, the
accommodation razed to the ground |
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VO: AS BILL
SIFTS THROUGH THE REMAINS HE CAN’T HELP BUT THINK OF HIS OWN CHILDREN |
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BILL: As a father you will offer your life for you children
00:49:44:20 my children are the reason I'm in involved [00:19:25] BILL: I'm
devastated by what I've seen today. It's way worse than I'd imagined |
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VO: THE
ORPHANS OF THE MATI FIRE ARE BEING HOUSED IN TEMPORARY SHELTER…BILL HOPES HIS
DONATIONS CAN HELP THEM REBUILD THE ORPHANAGE |
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[00:42:05] I think
it deserves our support and we are hear for that reason.[00:40:30] BILL: It will be on the ground assistance
immediate relief and immediate support for their needs now, not tomorrow. |
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33 |
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FADE/TRANSITION |
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57 |
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DAY 5_CARD 7
@ 01:52:17:00 – PTC: WEEKS AFTER
THE FIRE AND THE AIR IN THESE HOMES IS STILL FULL OF THE SMELL OF SMOKE YOU
CAN LITERALLY TASTE THE FIRE THOUSANDS OF HOMES LKE THIS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED
AND FOR MANY THIS ENTIRE AREA IS A DISASTER ZONE BUT FOR SOME, THIS IS
ACTUALLY A CRIME SCENE, AND THEY WANT ANSWERS |
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58 |
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DAY 2_CARD 3 @ [01:13:28] D: I want answers about the buildings, the
burnt buildings, to this day people are still turning up dead. [SPLIT] |
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VO: TODAY GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS HAVE GATHERED AT THIS
BASKETBALL COURT TO TRY TO ANSWER SOME OF THOSE QUESTIONS…DIMITRIS IS
SCEPTICAL |
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[SPLIT ]
We want answers for things that this whole community is still waiting for
answers it has never gotten before. [TRIM] |
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59 |
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[01:17:52]
MAN: Should we start?[01:17:52] 00:16:38:
THERE WILL BE A MINI EVALUATION ABOUT WHAT’S HAPPENED UNTIL NOW |
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61 |
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[01:49:33]: If you have any questions please write it down and it will
be answered.[01:49:42] [01:49:42]
Greek man in crowd: Answer it now! |
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[01:56:00:00 – PTC: THIS MEETING IS
VERY MUCH FOCUSING ON HOW TOXIC IS THE ATMOSPHERE WHE IT THE POWER GOING TO
COME BACK ON HOW AM I GOING TO GET MY PENSION BUT YOU CAN SEE WITH THE CROWD
HERE THEY’RE NOT HAPPY WITH WHAT THEY’RE BEING TOLD BY THE GOVERNMENT –
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63 |
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TRANSITION – MAYOR & EVAN WALK INTO TOWN HALL
INTERIOR |
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64 |
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VO: MAYOR VANGELIS
BOURNOS IS TRYING TO HELP HIS COMMUNITY RECOVER BUT EVERYWHERE HE GOES THERE
IS ONE QUESTION – WHY WEREN’T PEOPLE TOLD TO GET OUT OF MATI IN TIME |
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65 |
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[00:17:20] (Woman) Why didn’t a single bell ring [00:17:21] (Mayor) What bell? [00:17:22] (Woman) A bell ... [00:17:23] (Mayor) But we weren’t at Mati... [00:17:24] (Woman) A bell. It took an hour and a
half for the fire to come down ... [00:17:26] (Mayor) Listen to me ... [00:17:27] (Woman) You could notify us, a bell from
St John ... [00:17:28] (Mayor) You do not understand, we were
not at the front of the fire ... [00:18:42] (Woman) Now 100 people were burned, it's
that okay. [00:18:51]
(Mayor) But I'm not the head (of this situation) [00:18:53] (Woman) We do not need you, you are
useless! Thank you very much! [00:18:55] (Mayor) Thank you very much too... [00:18:57] (Woman) Incompetent! |
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VO: THE
MAYOR KNOWS HE HAS TO BEAR THE BRUNT OF THE TOWN’S ANGER…BUT, HIS FAMILY
SUFFERED TOO...THEIR
HOME WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED |
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[01:01:41] (Mayor) I
was not here [TRIM] [01:06:15] (Evan) And your family? [TRIM] [01:06:22] (Mayor) At that moment I did not know how
my family was… |
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VO: IN THE
CHAOS HE SAYS HE FRANTICALLY TRIED TO ALERT THE AUTHORITES TO GET HELP…IT’S
AT THIS STAGE IN THE TIMELINE, WHERE EVERY SECOND COUNTED… |
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75 |
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VO:
THE FIRE STARTED IN THE MOUNTAINS ABOVE MATI NOT FAR FROM THE ORPHANAGE |
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UNUSUALLY
HIGH WESTERLY WINDS DROVE IT QUICKLY DOWN THE HILLS TOWARDS THE TOWN |
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IT
WAS AT THIS POINT MAYOR BOURNOS SAYS HE ALERTED THE OPERATIONAL CHIEF THAT
MATI WAS AT RISK |
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DAY 5_CARD 7 [01:11:14] (Evan)
At what point should that evacuation order have been given? [01:11:33] (Mayor) In the first fifteen to twenty
minutes. We saw the fire at 4:40pm. They had until 5:10pm to give this
evacuation order so that we could have evacuated the area within an hour. |
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[01:12:29] (E) Who should give that order. [01:12:36] (M) The operational chief of the fire
brigade. [01:12:45] (E) Not the mayors, you can't do
that yourself? [01:12:47] (M) No I haven’t this authority |
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VO: AT 5.45,
THE FIRE BRIGADE REALIZED UNUSUALLY STRONG WINDS WOULD PUSH THE FIRE ACROSS
MARATHONIS AVENEUE… |
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CRITICALY,
THAT INFORMATION WAS NOT RELAYED TO THE POLICE…TRYING TO KEEP THE ROAD OPEN
FOR FIRETRUCKS, THEY CONTINUED SENDING CARS TOWARDS THE SEA -THEY WERE
SENDING PEOPLE TO THEIR DEATHS. |
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DAY 5_CARD 7 01:17:14They
made them do a detour to the sea because they thought it was a safe road. [01:17:59] (Mayor) The cars became trapped and
that’s how more people died than should’ve. [01:18:16] (Mayor) There were 55 people who were
just passing through that died. They were not even residents of the area. |
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79 |
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VO:
THE MAYOR SAYS HIS PLEAS FOR HELP WERE IGNORED…FAXES RECENTLY RELEASED IN THE
GREEK PRESS SHOW THE OFFICE FOR CIVIL PROTECTION WHICH OVERSEES THE FIRE
BRIGADE ASKED FOR FIRE TRUCKS FROM THE ARMY…BUT NOT UNTIL 6:03PM |
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VO: IT WAS
FAR TOO LATE…JUST 15 MINUTES LATER THE TOWN OF MATI WAS COMPLETELY ENGULFED
IN FLAMES |
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[01:11:49] (Mayor) The fire burned the area from
6:10 pm to 6:15 pm, and beyond there was no hope. |
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VO: THE FIRE
TRAPPED ALL THOSE IT DIDN’T KILL IN THE SEA…AMONG THEM WAS THE MAYOR’S OWN
FAMILY |
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[01:07:30] (Mayor) I contacted them around 9pm when
was feasible and I learned they were in the sea [01:01:52] (Mayor) They,
stayed there for 5.30 hours. People was burning in the sea too by the heat
wave. 01:02:02] I managed to get them out at 11:30pm |
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VO: DESPITE
WAITING FOR HOURS THERE WAS NO GOVERNMENT RESCUE…SOME WERE SAVED BY FISHERMEN
AND PRIVATE BOATS…MANY SIMPLY HAD TO WAIT UNTIL IT WAS SAFE TO LEAVE THE
WATER. |
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VO: FINGERPOINTING AND BLAMING BETWEEN GOVERNMENT
OFFICIALS CONTINUES TO THIS DAY. IN THE
AFTERMATH, THE LACK OF ACTION BY THOSE RESONSIBLE CAME TO LIGHT. THE DEPUTY
MINISTER FOR CITIZEN PROTECTION RESIGNED, AND THE HEADS OF BOTH THE POLICE
& THE FIRE BRIGADE WERE SACKED |
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VO: DATELINE REQUESTED A RESPONSE FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE CHIEF OF THE FIRE BRIGADE IN CHARGE OF ISSUING EVACUATIONS…THEY DECLINED TO COMMENT |
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77 |
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DAY 5_CARD 7 [01:21:00] (Evan)
How many people could have been saved if that order have been given? THOUGHTRACK:[00:32:00]
(Mayor) If a preventative evacuation plan had been given at the start of the
fire, everyone would have been saved… |
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VO: BUT DESPITE
THE MISTAKES MADE BY A FEW PEOPLE AT
THE TOP…THERE WERE MANY HEROES …CHIEF AMONG THEM, THE ILL-EQUIPPED VOLUNTEER
FIREMAN ON THE FRONT LINE |
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[00:09:02] S: [00:06:47] |
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108 |
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NEW VO: BILL
HOPES THE DONATIONS FROM THE GREEK-AUSTRALIAN COMMUNITY CAN HELP BETTER
PREPARE THEM FOR THE NEXT BIG BLAZE |
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109 |
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[01:53:22] B: I would like to the the President, Mr Seraphim, Mr Dimitri the Secretary, all of the volunteers here
today.[01:53:39] |
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110 |
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[01:55:43] B: Us, (can't hear), the Greek community
of Melbourne, Mrs Marths Tsanis, are offering a small sum of $40 000 towards your
equipment. B: Why did we do this? We did it because wherever
Greek people live they hurt for their fellow Greek. |
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VO: THE
LIVES LOST IN MATI APPEAR TO BE LARGELY DUE TO HUMAN ERROR, BUT THE FIRE
ITSELF WAS A NATURAL DISASTER MANY FEEL WAS MADE WORSE BY CLIMATE CHANGE |
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DAY8_CARD_12
PTC: @ 00:00:43:13 – SO FAR THIS CENTURY ONLY THE BLACK SATURDAY FIRES IN
AUSTRALIA HAVE CLAIMED MORE LIVES THAN THE BLAZE HERE IN MATI, BUT IS EXTREME
HEAT BECOMING MORE COMMON? |
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98 |
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THOUOGHTRACK: 00:24:30...
the reality of climate change in a country like Greece is a harsh reality and
it's a reality that we need to adapt to. |
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99 |
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[00:51:03]DEM: So this is the sort of dry pine
needles that are left after the summer. Plenty of it around as you can see.
Plenty of the dry pine cones |
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VO:
DEMETRIOUS KARAVELLAS IS THE PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD WILDLIFE FEDERATION IN
GREECE… |
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[00:51:15] DEM: It's a fire waiting to happen. |
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100 |
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[00:00:28] DEM: |
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VO:
DIMITRI’S BEEN WARNING THE GOVERNMENT THAT, UNLESS THEY INVEST IN PREVENTION
AND PREPARATION, MORE FIRES LIKE THIS ARE INEVITABLE…BUT THAT’S UNLIKELY TO
HAPPEN IN A COUNTRY BROUGHT TO IT’S KNEES BY AN ECONOMIC CRISIS AND SWEEPING AUSTERITY
MEASURES |
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[00:33:08]DEM: We've had a real tough challenge over
the last few years because in times of crisis I think the response on
environmental issues is at best the environment is a luxury, by others I
think others perceive the environment as an obstacle to development |
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113 |
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VO: FOR A
COUNTRY IN FINANCIAL CRISIS HOW WILL THEY FIND THE FUNDS TO REBUILD? |
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BILL IS
HOPING HIS CONTRIBUTION CAN AT LEAST HELP THE LYREIO ORPHANS… |
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117 |
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[00:51:31] (Bill) The Koukouvitakis
and Karamitos families make an offer of $100,000 in
furniture, the Hellenic Initiative make an offer of $50,000, and the Pancretan Assosiation $10. From
Australia with love from all of us |
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118 |
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[00:56:07] (Nun) Thank you very much |
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119 |
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[00:46:05] BILL: i felt
like there's so much more i can do, but it's their
lives now, they're going to rebuild it in their own way and build their own
future |
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VO: IT’S INEVITABLE THAT GREECE WILL
EXPERIENCE MORE FIRES IN THEIR FUTURE…THIS MONTH THE UN WARNED THAT BY 2040
THE WORLD WOULD BE FACING A CLIMATE CHANGE CATASTROPHE LIKELY TO BRING
EXTREME HEAT AND MORE SEVERE FOREST FIRES |
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[00:04:06] EW: In what way can you quantify the effect of
climate change in terms of forest fires here? 00:04:13]
DEM: we do know that temperatures will be higher in the summers to
come in Greece and many parts of the Mediterranean but also in Greece.
We do know that there will be stronger winds 00:32:23:11 and I hope that something will change
after 2018 |
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NEW VO: WILL GREECE LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF MATI - AND MAKE SURE NEXT TIME,
THEY’RE READY? |
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120 |
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END |