Sawt Falasteen - Greece counts cost as firefighters master fires around Athens

With the smoke still to clear, civil protection officials said the fire devoured 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres), destroying about 100 homes as well as other building and cars.

While isolated fires still burned, there were no major active blazes, but some 530 firefighters and 145 vehicles were monitoring events, said the fire service.

"The fire is not as intense as it was in the last few days," a fire service spokesman told AFP. "But there are still a few spots that could cause the fires to flare up again."

The fire broke out on Sunday at Varnavas, near the historic town of Marathon, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Athens.

Investigators think a faulty electricity pole may have been the cause, the Kathimerini newspaper reported.

Strong winds fed the flames, turning it into the worst wildfire this year in Greece.

As the flames approached the suburbs of the capital, teams from France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and Turkey mobilised through an EU scheme to help Greece master the fires.

The reinforcements have not yet been used in the Athens fire, the fire brigade spokesman said.

- 'Under-staffed, under-equipped' -

With thousands of people forced to flee their homes, several stadiums were opened up to received them. Some 650 people were hosted in hotels, the civil protection ministry said.

The government has already earmarked 4.7 million euros for the eight towns hit by the fires, with pay-outs for households and individuals affected by the disaster.

But there was growing anger over what critics say was a lack of preparedness.

"Under-staffed, under-equipped and totally uncoordinated," said Stefanos Kasselakis, leader of the leftwing Syriza opposition party of the civil protection service, blaming Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

"We're doing our best to improve every year," said Mitsotakis after an emergency cabinet meeting Tuesday. "But conditions are unfortunately becoming more difficult."

Around 200 people demonstrated outside parliament on Tuesday evening to denounce what they called the government's "crimes".

"The solution won't just come from the air," he added: preventative work was also essential.

But toll of annual fires is growing. According to the meteo.gr website of the National Observatory, 37 percent of forests around Athens have been consumed by fire over the past eight years.

F.Qawasmeh--SF-PST