New fires hurt Greece

ATHENS -- Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined in battling wildfires yesterday that have destroyed some of Greece's lushest landscape, and the death toll from five days of blazes rose to at least 64.

The devastating blazes have infuriated Greeks, already stunned by deadly forest fires in June and July, and appear likely to dominate political debate before general elections scheduled for Sept. 16.

Many Greeks blamed the conservative government for failing to respond quickly enough.

The country's worst fires in memory have burned olive groves, forests, orchards and homes. The destruction was so extensive that authorities said they had no way of knowing how many hectares were burned or how many people have been injured.

New blazes broke out faster than others could be brought under control, leaving behind a landscape of blackened tree trunks, gutted houses and dead livestock

Some 56 new fires broke out Monday and Tuesday, the fire department said.

The worst were concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese in the south and on the island of Evia north of Athens, spokesman Nikos Diamandis said.

Firefighting efforts were concentrating on one front burning in the Seta area of Evia, and on the village of Matesi, near Zaharo in the western Peloponnese.

A group of 55 Israeli firefighters were sent to one of the worst fires in Krestena, near Ancient Olympia.

Diamandis said 18 planes and 18 helicopters -- including four from Switzerland -- would be used in the southern firefighting effort.

From the northern border with Albania to the southern island of Crete, fires ravaged forests and farms. Greece's civil defence agency said the fire threat remained high because of high winds and temperatures, especially in the Athens region.

The government, which declared a state of emergency over the weekend, said arson might have been the cause of the fires, and several people have been arrested. A prosecutor on Monday ordered an investigation into whether arson attacks could come under Greece's anti-terrorism and organized crime laws. (edmontonsun)