Greek wildfires: Multinational force fights to tame flareups

Hundreds of firefighters from across Europe and the Middle East are working alongside Greek colleagues in rugged terrain to contain flareups of the huge wildfires that have ravaged Greece’s forests for a week

KONTIAS, Greece -- Hundreds of firefighters from across Europe and the Middle East worked alongside Greek colleagues in rugged terrain Wednesday to contain flareups of the huge wildfires that ravaged Greece's forests for a week, destroying homes and forcing evacuations. The spread of the blazes has been largely halted, officials said, but fronts still burned on the large island of Evia and in Greece's southern Peloponnese region. The fires broke out last week as Greece had just experienced its worst and most protracted heat wave since 1987, leaving its forests tinder-dry. Other nearby nations such as Turkey and Italy also faced similar searing temperatures and quickly spreading fires, while Spain and Portugal were on alert for wildfires amid a heat wave forecast to last through Monday. At the other end of the Mediterranean, in Algeria, wildfires Tuesday killed 42 people.