A series of mysterious fires in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag have destroyed hundreds of homes, reports Reem Nafie The heat has always been an ongoing problem for Egypt's southern residents -- in July and August, temperatures can reach a sweltering 50 degrees Celsius. This year, fires have added to the hot summer's regular woes. At midday on 4 July, blazes suddenly erupted in 15 villages in Sohag governorate's Belina district, 650 kilometres south of Cairo. The villages' residents were ill-fitted to deal with the fires, which resulted in the destruction of entire houses, as well as rooftops, farmland, sheep and cattle. By the time police and fire fighters arrived, the damage had already been done. But the 4 July blazes were just the beginning; for the next ten days, a series of additional fires ended up destroying even more of Belina's homes. By mid July, a total of 172 houses had burnt down; 516 people were left homeless. Two children -- a brother and sister -- had died, 22 were suffering from respiratory illnesses and dozens of others had been severely burned. The villages, as well as the governorate they are part of, were totally ill-equipped to deal with the fires. By the third day, assistance has been requested from neighbouring governorates, which helped to eventually control the situation. More difficult to stop, however, were the rumours that subsequently emerged. The fires had been caused by meteors that had "fallen from the sky", some said. Others said they were the "wrath of God". The explanations birthed superstitions that in turn made many residents desert their homes, choosing to sleep on the sidewalks instead, for fear that if they stayed home, they would be burnt by "fire demons and devils". The government's official explanation -- that the fires were caused by sparks from clay ovens on rooftops that had ignited the corn stalks also placed on roofs to cool houses down -- did little to cool down people's anxieties. According to Hamdi El-Gazzar, assistant interior minister for security in Sohag, "when corn stalks come in contact with fire sparks, it is much like lighting a match to hay." The reason why people suspected meteors had caused the blazes, El-Gazzar said, was because "pigeon coops on rooftops were probably the first to burn, and if a pigeon is set ablaze and it flies away, people might think it was a flying object, although it is only a pigeon." Both the wind and the extreme heat helped to spread the blazes, El-Gazzar said. He said most people were insisting on the more fanciful tales because they thought they would receive additional monetary compensation for the loss of their property. They erroneously felt that the more inexplicable the cause, "the more we would take pity on them", he said. Sohag MP Hishmat Abul-Kheir had asked the Insurance and Social Affairs Ministry to compensate those who lost their homes, family members or suffered burns. "The family that lost the children was given LE500, and those who suffered burns were given LE200 each," said Abul-Kheir, who was still negotiating with the ministry in an attempt to raise the compensations. Food, water and clothes were also sent to the village by the ministry. Compensation for those who lost their homes had yet to be determined. The governorate, meanwhile, has spent LE70,000 to enhance its fire prevention systems. New equipment has been bought, and water pumps installed in villages that didn't originally have them; broken water pumps were repaired. Sohag Governor Said El-Beltagui also organised informative seminars for villagers, to explain the disadvantages of keeping agricultural wastes -- such as corn stalks -- around their homes. In many cases, the cornstalks have already been removed from rooftops by both the local police and the villagers themselves. Although El-Gazzar said the situation was now "under control", why the heat and sparks had combined to such disastrous results this particular summer remained a mystery.
