Greek wildfires: Multinational force works to tame flare-ups

By PETROS KARADJIAS and NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
Associated Press

PEFKI, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters from across Europe and the Middle East are working alongside Greek colleagues in rugged terrain to contain flare-ups of the huge wildfires that have ravaged Greece’s forests for a week. Officials said the blazes that destroyed homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate mostly had stopped spreading Wednesday. However, fronts still burned on the large island of Evia and in Greece’s southern Peloponnese region. The Greek government said 900 foreign firefighters from at least 11 European countries and three in the Mideast were tackling remaining hot spots along with Greek crews. The largest contingent were in action on the Greek island of Evia, which has suffered the greatest damage.