After wildfires struck coastal resorts and suburbs around Athens, the images of the destruction show the trail of devastation and death left behind. The world is understandably shocked. But fires – albeit smaller ones and with fewer deaths than on this occasion – are quite regular and seen as an unpleasant yet predictable summer occurrence in Greece. These fires have generally been treated with resignation, and ultimately one has now led to huge disaster. The following offers a glimpse into a very Greek tragedy. Greece, despite being a European Union member state and a developed economy, exhibits many of the institutional deficiencies and cultural traits found in less developed nations. A large, centrally-controlled state can be a source of secure employment (as in Greece), yet is often grossly inefficient. State power, wrongly exercised, can inhibit legitimate business, and its regulatory functions have little effect in societies where illegality and a shadow economy are prevalent. Look at post-communist countries that suffer from a legacy of a large yet weak state. Greece may never have been part of the Soviet bloc, but successive weak governments, coping badly with the country’s underdevelopment, have created a series of distortions that are unseen in Western Europe, but common in the East. Read more: Wildfires are raging in the Mediterranean. What can we learn? Does Greece’s problematic historical development contribute to this particular type of disaster? The short answer is yes, it does. The explanation for how areas of Greece burst into flame each year is not simply a question of poor ecological management, building standards, fire prevention and fire-fighting capabilities. This explanation rests with the law and its enforcement. Burn, then build? In Greece, there is a lot of unused land classed as agricultural or forest. Greece has a complex, antiquated and incomplete legal land title system, where efforts to create a land registry (or cadastre) have been ongoing since the early 2000s and are still not even close to completion. Add in the pervasive corruption of land registry offices, forestry commissions and relevant state administration, and what you get is an opportunity for real estate development. Pantelis Saitas/EPA-EFE In Western Europe, it is generally not possible to build without first obtaining appropriate permits. Those who try to do so without permission are frequently discovered, stopped, fined, and even forced to alter or demolish what they’ve built. The severe legal and financial implications of building illegally makes this only a very limited problem. In Greece, however, you could clear up a bit of brushland or cut down a section of forest, put down the foundation for a building, connect utilities by bribing local officials, and then wait for the amnesty for illegal buildings that tends to come around periodically, usually close to a general election. The latest legalisation effort has been lauded as a revenue raising exercise, regardless of consequences in other areas such as – coincidentally – ecological management and fire security. And so enterprising sorts take advantage of fire to the forest, removing the barrier so that they can build homes, without care for regulations, in inaccessible areas, on land they often do not own. The forest burns, people die, developers build, and votes are won. On what grounds could the political class justify turning a blind eye to such illegality? The usual excuses are that illegal builds are family homes constructed by the poor living on the city fringes – the unavoidable consequence of antiquated zoning laws, and so the fault of the state (of previous governments, naturally). An amnesty, the argument goes, legalises existing situations that the state has tolerated for years, that it would be inequitable not to recognise. Never mind that many of these builds aren’t favelas, but villas with pools. We do not know, yet, whether this new fire is the result of arson or accidental. But we do know that it fits a pattern, one that needs to be recognised and broken. In 2007, fires hit the Peloponnese, for example, claimed a high death toll, and led to a manhunt for alleged arsonists. Whatever the spark, the source of Greece’s terrible tragedy, and many others like it, isn’t an act of God. It is a result of a dishonest political class shopping for votes, of builders making a living, of hands getting greased. It is institutionalised tragedy, one that binds a predatory state to an accomplice population. This is not to belittle the tragedy of lost lives, or blame the victims for their deaths. But if Greeks are looking for someone to blame they shouldn’t look to incomplete fire prevention measures, faulty equipment, sluggish responses, or even (as is commonly claimed by the media and the government) wreckers or foreign spies. They should look in the mirror. The Greek state has tolerated, condoned and rewarded the illegality that makes these disasters recurring. Greek society has watched with disinterest. It is time this stopped.<doc-sep>LONDON — Arsonists probably started the wildfires that killed at least 84 people in Greece this week and nearly obliterated a seaside town, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Friday. The fires were the deadliest disaster in the country’s recent history. After the three days of national mourning declared by Mr. Tsipras expired, political tensions rose along with the death toll, as questions persisted about who was responsible and how well the government responded to the blazes. “I assume full political responsibility for the tragedy,” Mr. Tsipras said in an emergency cabinet meeting on Friday afternoon, and he urged the ministers of his government to do the same, “as heavy as that may be.” But the prime minister failed to specify how the government mechanisms for handling such a disaster might have failed, and instead he placed the blame on poor urban planning and arbitrary housing in Mati, a coastal village east of Athens that was all but wiped out by fire on Monday and Tuesday.<doc-sep>AT least 74 people have been killed, 1,000 homes have been destroyed and more than 150 victims are injured after devastating wildfires ravaged holiday resorts in Greece. The body of a six-month-old baby was pulled from the sea near the village of Mati, which is at the centre of the disaster, where 26 people were found dead in the garden of a villa, many of them families huddled tightly together hugging each other. 63 Locals and tourists in Mati flee to the sea to escape the deadly inferno Credit: Kalogerikos Nikos People have been told to leave their homes after high winds whipped up forest fires on either side of Athens, burning homes and turning the sky over the capital a hazy orange from the smoke. Officials are using US military drones “to observe and detect any suspicious activity” after it emerged that 15 of the blazes broke out at the same time in different locations outside Athens. This comes amid growing speculation that the infernos may be the result of arson, reports local news outlet Ekathimerini. One of the deadly fires started about 30 miles west of Athens in Kineta, while the other, which broke out Monday from as-yet-undetermined causes, is in Mati which is northeast of the capital near Rafina. The fires spread rapidly into packed tourists areas in popular holiday seaside areas, trapping those who were in their cars or homes. The mayor of Rafina, Vangelis Bournos told SKA that 1,000 homes had been destroyed by the ferocious blaze while later adding that he hopes the death toll would not reach "three digits". Speaking with Sky News, Greece's interior minister Panos Skourletis described the fires as a "national tragedy" and a "biblical disaster with human losses." WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR: At least 74 people have been killed and over 150 injured after wildfires devastate seaside resorts in southern Greece Whipped up by high winds, the forest fires ravaged towns either side of Athens Authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the ferocious blazes Local media reports that the 15 separate blazes - which broke out at the same time - could be the result of arson Eleven of the victims are in a serious condition in hospital The body of a six-month-old baby was pulled from the sea in Mati, east of the capital An Irish bride on her honeymoon was badly burned and her husband is missing Winds reached 50 mph as the country looked for international help The fire poses no immediate threat to Greece's famed ancient monuments There were fears for eight missing tourists, according to reports 63 The fires have destroyed homes, burned cars and prompted tourists and Greeks to flee to beaches Credit: AFP or licensors 63 Some of the victims ran into the sea as the fires burned through seaside resorts in Greece Credit: Rex Features 63 A fire fighting truck is Kineta, near Athens, as fires turn the air blood orange Credit: AFP or licensors 63 A house is set alight by the forest fire in Neos Voutzas area, Greece Credit: Athena Picture Agency 63 People watch a wildfire in the town of Rafina, near Athens Credit: AFP or licensors 63 Flames rise as a wildfire burns in Rafina Credit: AFP or licensors 63 The government has asked other European countries for helicopters and additional firefighters to help tackle the fires Credit: AFP or licensors Nikos Economopoulos, head of Greece’s Red Cross, told Skai TV about the 26 bodies found in the garden of a villa in Mati. He said: “They had tried to find an escape route but unfortunately these people and their kids didn’t make it in time." The coastguard said the bodies of four people had been retrieved from the sea off Mati this morning. One of the youngest victims was thought to be a six-month-old baby who died of smoke inhalation. Police said they found two Danish tourists in a boat off the coast from Rafina. Another eight people from the group were still missing. Mayor Bournos said he hoped the death toll would not exceed 100. He said: "There are more dead people than announced, I can confirm that. 63 Residents have been forced to flee their homes as the fire spreads Credit: AFP or licensors 63 Regional authorities have declared a state of emergency in the eastern and western parts of the greater Athens Credit: Splash News 63 A firefighter wears a flame resistant uniform as wildfire burns in the town of Rafina Credit: Reuters 63 A house burns during the ferocious wildfire in Kineta, near Athens 63 Investigators examine bodies in the Mati region 63 A body next to a burned out car in Mati near Rafina Staggering video of motorist driving along motorway in Athens, Greece with wildfires raging either side “The destruction is biblical. More than a thousand buildings have been burned. I am really worried, I don't want to imagine we have so many dead. “I hope that we won't reach a three digit number." Officials confirmed that more than 300 vehicles were destroyed by the flames. Bournos added: "How can you search a thousand houses? The fire was out of control due to the strong winds and reached the sea within half an hour. “We limited the damage but we couldn't prevent it. Horrifying drone video reveals the full scale of devastating wildfires wreaking havoc across Athens, Greece 63 Mati - at the centre of the disaster - is in the eastern Rafina region, a popular spot for Greek holidaymakers 63 A dog shelters on a rock in seaside resort of Mati Credit: blitz “Fifty per cent of the beach are of Kokkino Limanaki has been burnt, Mati by 98 per cent. “My own house got burnt and my family was in danger. My cars were burnt. The situation is out of control." One woman told Greece's Skai TV: "Mati doesn't even exist as a settlement anymore. I saw corpses, burned-out cars. I feel lucky to be alive." Some parts of village were still smouldering white smoke early on Tuesday and burned-out cars were scattered outside gated compounds.<doc-sep>NEOS VOUTZAS, Greece — The first fire alarm sounded in Kineta, a town an hour west of Athens, the capital, at 12:30 p.m. on Monday. Then, at 4:57 p.m., the authorities received calls on their 199 hotline reporting flames near Rafina, east of the capital. Just about an hour later, the wildfire had reached Neos Voutzas, to the northeast, and then, powered by gale-force winds, it moved “like a lava flow” down the hill to the seaside town of Mati, fire officials said. Greeks on Wednesday were still piecing together one of the nation’s worst disasters in recent memory. But many were asking how so many scattered fires had broken out in so short a span and spread with such fatal velocity. Suspicion of arson combined with grief and recrimination as shattered Greeks sifted through the ruins of fires that killed at least 81 people.<doc-sep>
People watch a wildfire in the town of Rafina, near Athens. ANGELOS TZORTZINIS/AFP/Getty Images The devastating fires in the suburbs of Athens that have left more than 80 dead and damaged hundreds of residences and vehicles has revealed that Greece, a country that annually hosts millions of tourists, does not have an effective plan in place to deal with extreme natural disasters, even in areas that are just 40 miles away from the Greek capital. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called the wildfires an “asymmetrical” phenomenon, but the country's residents are angry that the Greek authorities have failed to tackle the situation responsibly, dismayed especially at the failure to quickly evacuate the two tourist areas east and west of Athens as the death toll continued to rise. Children fell from cliffs to the sea to avoid the flames, families were charred inside their vehicles, and many drowned as the fires swept away even those who were in the sea and the beaches adjacent to the forests. 'It's like being on a sinking ship' Rescue crews continued Wednesday to search the seaside and forest in Mati, the areas worst affected by the wildfires, to locate further victims. The death toll now stands at 81, with 186 people seriously injured and about 100 people missing. “It is undoubtedly a national tragedy. There was no evacuation plan. Unfortunately, the Greek Civil Protection Agency is only thinking about the firefighting and not giving enough importance on civil protection and preparation,” Costas Synolakis, a professor of natural disasters in the Technical University of Crete and visiting professor from the University of California, Berkeley, told CNBC. According to Synolakis, the area burned was laden with anarchic construction, densely populated and surrounded by a pine forest. With winds reaching 50 miles per hour, the fire risk had increased to a Category 4, but the authorities' reaction was not consistent with the high degree of alarm. To stress the importance of early intervention, Synolakis said that within the first minute, a fire is extinguished with a glass of water, the second minute with a bucket of water, the third with a tank of water, and "after that we do our best." “There had not been any drill on how to evacuate this area, and no experience for how much time will be needed to safely rescue, for example, 100 people. As a result, even the locals did not know where to go when the fire threatened them. To say it schematically, it's like being on a sinking ship and you do not know where to go to be saved,” Synolakis said. IMF warned of Greece's decaying infrastructure But the problems extend much further beyond the Greek authorities' failure to react swiftly to the disaster at hand. The eight years of austerity imposed by the country's international lenders has caused huge problems with public infrastructure and equipment. Although Greece, since 2016, has a budget surplus similar to that of Germany's, reduction of critical expenditures, shrinking public investments and degrading services has led to disrepair. In late 2016 the IMF warned the Greek authorities that a further reduction in government operating costs would be damaging. Maurice Obstfeld, IMF's Economic Counselor, and Poul M. Thomsen, the Fund's European Department Director had published a joint analysis in which they supported that Greece has resorted to deep cuts in investment and so-called discretionary spending. “It has done so to such a degree that the decaying infrastructure is hampering growth and the delivery of basic public services such as transport and health care being compromised,” IMF officials have warned. There had not been any drill on how to evacuate this area, and no experience for how much time will be needed to safely rescue, for example, 100 people. As a result, even the locals did not know where to go when the fire threatened them. To say it schematically, it's like being on a sinking ship and you do not know where to go to be saved. Costas Synolakis professor of natural disasters in the Technical University of Crete and visiting professor from the University of California, Berkeley But the Greek government and the Greek Ministry of Finance did not take into account the relevant recommendations. Τhe Greek Public Investment Program credits reduced from 9.6 billion euros (US$11.22 billion) in 2008 to just 5,950 billion euros last year (US$6.8 billion).