RISK MANAGEMENT FOR

EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
APPENDIX A & B
Technical Committee 1.5 Risk Management
World Road Association
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ORGANIZED RELOCATION OF PEOPLE THREATENED BY A DISASTER -

A CASE STUDY FROM A MAJOR FOREST FIRE IN RHODES ISLAND,
GREECE.

• Theodorou Phoebus
• Dimitrios Alexandris, Ph.D
• Ioannis Benekos, Ph.D (Greece’s representative in WRA’s TC 1.5 – Risk Management. Email:
ybenekos@gmail.com)
• Antonakos Andreas , Ph.D (General Secretariat of Civil Protection. Email: aantonakos@gscp.gr)
• Dionysios Makris (Greece’s First Delegate in WRA)

Abstract

Organized relocation of citizens from an area that is threatened by an ongoing or imminent

disaster is organized and implemented by the competent local or regional Civil Protection
authorities. The Police and CP authorities are responsible for defining safe routes for transportation.
Police is also responsible for securing the evacuated area, controlling the traffic and for keeping
order during and after the relocation of citizens. The Coast Guard assists the organized relocation
when marine resources are needed (boats). In the case where organized relocation involves
vulnerable population groups, including people disabled or with health problems, the presence
of ambulance units should be ensured in advance in order to provide immediate pre-hospital
medical assistance. Selection of appropriate sites for relocation should account for health and
safety requirements, be performed, if possible, within the limit of the municipality and minimize
further need for relocation.

The relocation of 2,000 people, most of them foreign citizens, due to a major forest fire which
took place in July 2008 in Rhodes Island, Greece, resulting in a total burned area of 13 Km2 and
an evacuated area equal to 1,6 Km2 is presented. The evacuated area was not a typical residential
area as most of it was occupied by large hotel facilities. The relocation area was an organized
beach 3 km away from the evacuated area. The entire operation, considered as fully successful
by the Greek authorities, with the corresponding organization of resources and actions is
presented and analyzed within the scope of risk mitigation.

Keywords: forest fire, evacuation, civil protection, population relocation, risk mitigation.

1. INTRODUCTION: DEFINITION A ND LEGAL FR AMEWOR K FOR

“ORGANIZED RELOCATION”

Among the actions needed to protect the life and health of citizens is their removal-relocation
from areas threatened by ongoing or imminent disaster. The need of safe relocation of people
during ongoing disasters was made clear during the 2007 devastating forest fires in the Helia
region of Peloponnese, Greece, where 36 people died, most of them trying to get away from the
approaching forest fires.

Organized relocation as defined by Greek Law 3613/2007 is the organized movement-relocation

of citizens from an area that is threatened by an ongoing or imminent disaster. It is not mandatory,
and citizens can refuse to leave the threatened area after they are officially informed for the
danger they are facing on their own responsibility.
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According to Article 1 of Greek Law 3013/2002, which is the fundamental law for civil protection
in Greece, the purpose of the Civil Protection includes the protection of life and health of citizens
against natural, technological and other disasters. As such, organized relocation is organized and
implemented by the competent local or regional Civil Protection authorities,

Guidelines for the organized relocation in order to protect citizens from ongoing or imminent
disaster due to forest fires have been published by the central Greek Civil Protection authority
which is the General Secretariat for Civil Protection. In the case of forest fires, relocated citizens
usually have to stay away from the threatened area only for a few hours.

This paper presents the procedures required for the relocation of 2,000 people, most of them
foreign citizens, due to a major forest fire which took place in July 2008 in Rhodes Island,
Greece, resulting in a total burned area of 13 Km2 and an evacuated area equal to 1,6 Km2.

The decision-making process, basic requirements and limitations of the relocation procedure are
presented within the cooperative and coordinative action framework of the relevant authorities.
The importance of clear public information and transportation procedures and the availability of
well-maintained roads used for relocation in the scope of mitigating the risk are highlighted.

Decision-making, basic requirements and limitations for organized relocation

According to Greek Law 3613/2007, the person-authority who decides on the implementation of
the organized relocation procedure is the Mayor of the affected area who also oversees the civil
protection actions in local level or the Head of the Region, when the ongoing or imminent disaster
can affect more than one municipality.

In all cases, this decision should be based upon the recommendation of the authorities that have
the responsibility to limit the impacts of the disaster. In the case of forest fires, the person who
officially recommends the implementation of organized relocation is the Chief Officer of the
local or regional Fire Brigade, who is acting as coordinator of the incident.

Recommendation and decision for implementation of organized relocation should take into
account the following:

• organized relocation of citizens is considered as a prevention measure, which should be

implemented in due time (several hours before citizens are exposed to actual danger so that
competent authorities have enough time to properly organize the entire operation) and under
certain conditions and limitations, the assessment of which can only be done locally;
• the risk faced by the people due to forest fires emanates primarily from human exposure to
very high temperatures due to the heat generated by the burning of plant biomass and from
human exposure to fire products (smoke, airborne particles, hot ash, etc.) which diffuse into the
atmosphere. Therefore, the rationale of all decisions for the organized relocation of citizens due
to forest fires should be related basically with the above risks. Where burning of other types of
fuel such as building materials, waste, etc., is likely to occur, the risk may vary depending on
the type of fuel;
• the decision to relocate citizens from a site that is threatened by an ongoing or imminent
disaster due to forest fire, should be taken when operational forces acting in the field, estimate
that the personal safety of people at risk cannot be reduced provided that the risk of movement
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in which citizens may be exposed heading to a safe place is not greater than the risk of staying
near the area of the evolving destructive phenomenon.

Organized relocation is decided only in the case where competent authorities can ensure timely
and efficient organization for its safe implementation. If this is not the case, this decision can
easily cause greater consequences, possibly involving human losses, and be turned into a rescue
operation, which is a more difficult and risky operation, especially when a large number of
people are involved.

2. COOPERATIVE AND COORDINATIVE ACTIONS: PUBLIC

INFORMATION AND TRANSPORTATION PROCEDURES.

In ensuring an efficient and quick organized relocation two procedures are of primary importance
in cooperative and coordinative actions: public information and transportation procedures.

3. PUBLIC INFORMATION PROCEDURES

People located in the area that is decided to be evacuated, are officially informed about the
decision of organized relocation from the police. The information process is performed on a door
to door basis. The decision for relocation is also announced by local and/or national mass media
(TV, radio). The announcement must include the following information:

• who took the decision and who is responsible for the implementation;
• clearly identify the boundaries of the area from which citizens must be relocated and the risk
they face if they remain in it;
• identify where and when citizens will gather in case they need to be transported (hotspots) and
personal items they may or should have with them;
• identify the anticipated duration of the relocation, and the place of destination;
• identify safe routes and indicate those that can be followed for the citizens who want to use
their own means of transportation;
• report support available at the destination.

In tourist areas, hotel owners and rental apartment owners as well as tour operators, are notified
first in order to inform tourists about the decision for organized relocation and respective
procedures. In those cases, the Operations Centre of Civil Protection of the General Secretariat
for Civil Protection is informed, which notifies the Crisis Management Unit of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs so that the embassies of foreign citizens are officially informed.

4. TRANPORTATION PROCEDURES

Transportation of citizens can be done by public or private transportation means, or even by

personal cars. The Police and Civil Protection authorities are responsible for defining safe routes
for transportation. Police is also responsible for securing the evacuated area, controlling the
traffic and for keeping the order during and after the relocation of citizens. The Coast Guard
assists the organized relocation when marine resources (boats) are needed.
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In the case where organized relocation involves vulnerable population groups, including people
disabled or with health problems, the presence of ambulance units should be ensured in advance
in order to provide immediate pre-hospital medical assistance.

In case where foreign citizens (tourists, etc.) who need transportation are involved, a special
gathering point must be defined, provided this is possible, in order to insure better communication
with the authorities and create better conditions for their support.

The sites selected for relocation should be located within the limits of the municipality, if possible,
and meet all health and safety requirements which are no less than those applicable to any
citizens gathering sites. Furthermore, the likelihood of having to relocate from those sites for
safety reasons should be minimized.

5. CASE STUDY: THE JULY 2008 RHODES ISLAND FOREST FIRE

In July 22 2008, a forest fire started in Rhodes Island located in the south-eastern part of the
Aegean Sea in Greece. During the next 4 days the fire grew bigger and finally the total burned
area reached 13 Km2. The location and the burned area of the forest fire are shown in illustration 1.

Illustration 1: Location map showing the burned area of the2008 Rhodes Island forest fire.

For the fire fighting enormous amount of means and personnel were used including 10 firefighting
planes and 8 firefighting helicopters. During the third day of the fire it was clear that some
populated areas were threatened by the fire. More precisely, those areas were not threatened
directly by the fire (flames, heat wave) but they were exposed to smoke and airborne particles
produced by the fire. Illustration 2 offers a panoramic view of the forest fire from inhabited
areas.
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Illustration 2. Panoramic view of the forest fire from inhabited areas..

The threatened area was not a typical residential area as most of it was occupied by large hotel
facilities. The total area that was considered as directly threatened by the fire was of a size equal
to 1,6 Km2 and the number of persons located within this area was estimated to be around 2.000
(almost all of them were foreign citizens).The burned and the evacuated areas are shown in
illustration 3.

Illustration 3. Map showing the burned area and the evacuated area.
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The hotel facilities located within the evacuated area are shown in illustration 4.

Illustration 4. Map showing the hotel facilities within the evacuated area.

The official decision for the organized relocation was taken in July 25th, 24 hours before the
implementation, by the Municipal Civil Protection Coordination Committee. For each hotel a
gathering point (hotspot) was set in agreement with hotel managers.

Citizens were transported by private tourist buses hired by the municipality as well as public
buses provided by the municipality. The relocation area was an organized beach 3 km away from
the evacuated area. There was only one road parallel to the shore available for the transportation
and it was cleared and turned into a one-way road by the local police forces. The burned,
evacuated and relocation areas are shown in illustration 5.

Illustration 5. Map showing the burned, the evacuated area and the relocation area.
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Citizens were informed that they would have to stay in the relocation area until the end of the day
and that they should take with them the necessary things for one full day at the beach. Potable
water, food and toilets-bathrooms were available at the relocation area for all citizens at no cost.
An ambulance was available at all times during the procedure even though no one was hurt or in
need of any kind of medical care. Relocated citizens were transported back to their hotels at the
end of the day with the same transportation means.

6. CONCLUSIONS

The operation highlighted the importance of possessing clear and specific procedures with a
clearly defined chain of command, decision-making process and assigned responsibilities for a
successful organized relocation of people.

Important aspects of this procedure are the specific information provided to the public for
ensuring appropriate coordination and communication with responsible authorities, the
availability of sufficient transportation means and the maintenance of major evacuation roads in
good condition for a quick and inhibited relocation.

The entire operation was considered by the Greek local and national authorities as fully
successful. Organized relocation of citizens during forest fires has been implemented successfully
several times in Greece since 2008.