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Greece on Fire

Towering flames engulfed olive groves, forests and homes in Greece last week. The fires stretched from the country's northern border with Albania to the Peloponnese peninsula and the island of Crete. At least 64 people were killed. Karolos Papoulias, Greece's president, called the disaster "a national tragedy and a catastrophe."

In June and July, wildfires fueled by high temperatures, hot winds and drought had raced across Greece. Last week's fires devastated the country.

As the fires spread, people used garden hoses, buckets of water and even brushwood to beat back the flames. Hundreds of firefighters from 21 countries joined the fight.

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis declared a nationwide state of emergency. He also suggested that arsonists started the blazes. "So many fires, breaking out simultaneously in so many places, cannot be a coincidence," he said on national TV.

Cooler temperatures and lighter winds on Wednesday helped firefighters dampen the flames. "From the day that these large fires took hold of the country, we had emphasized the need for the weather to become our ally," says Nikos Diamandis, a fire department spokesman.

Next: Still on the Road to Recovery