The northern suburbs of Athens are burning.  People are sitting at home, not wanting to leave in case the fires reach their area.  For those affected already, their houses and belongings have gone up in flames. 

In their anger and distress people are blaming the government for the present catastrophe.  Greece has always been prone to wildfires, but only in the last few years has it been so catastrophic, and Athens has never before been threatened on such a scale. 

Experts in Greece have stated that since the fires of 2007 the government has done nothing to improve their abilities to battle wildfires, and the same functional problems exist today that existed then.

The firefighters and pilots working to douse the fires are making a superhuman effort.

These photos were taken while visiting friends.