Massive wildfire near Athens nearly put out

A massive wildfire that torched forests, farmland and homes near Athens has been contained, but firefighters still patrolled smoldering areas north and east of the Greek capital on Tuesday to guard against flareups.
Fires were still burning Tuesday near the coastal town of Porto Germeno, northwest of Athens, and near villages on the Evia island, east of the capital.
The fire that broke out Friday night in a mountainous area near the town of Marathon _ site of one of ancient history's most famous battlegrounds _ razed some 21,000 hectares (51,890 acres) of pine forest, olive grove, brush and farmland, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
For days it sent a pall of smoke over the capital, cloaking Athens in an eerie brown half-light.
Most of Mount Penteli, which separates Athens from the Marathon plain, has been scorched, right up to its 1,109-meter (3,638-ft) peak. The mountain's pine forests had also been heavily damaged by fire in 1995, leading to concerns that they won't be able to grow again naturally.
"There are no more active fire fronts, but we still have a large number of forces out there ... we have also begun damage assessment," a fire brigade spokesman said Tuesday.
So far, about 150 homes have been reported burned, but that is widely considered an underestimate.
Some 500 firefighters, assisted by 300 soldiers, were patrolling the area in 132 fire engines, the spokesman said. The water-fighting effort from the air scaled down to three planes and one helicopter Tuesday, in contrast to the 19 aircraft that unleashed 14,000 tons of water Monday on the Athens blaze.
The wildfire was the most destructive ever in the Attica region and the worst in Greece since the wildfires of 2007, which killed 76 people and laid waste to 275,000 hectares (679,500 acres).
Critics said Greece's conservative government showed it had learnt little from the 2007 wildfires.
"A complete overhaul is required in the way we deal with forest fires ... There is no sign the (government) is moving the right direction," said Dimitris Karavellas, director of the environmental group WWF in Greece.
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis dismissed the criticism and visited a fire plane base to thank its exhausted pilots.
"Close your ears to those few who from a safe position for their own expediencies attempt (to criticize) everything," he said. "The entire Greek nation supports you and is grateful."