MATI

A large wildfire fanned by strong winds burned tracts of pine forest on the Greek island of Evia, firefighters said on Tuesday, with evacuation ordered of two villages in the path of the flames.

Wildfires raged uncontrolled in at least four other Greek regions, and the fire brigade said it had been called to put out 182 fires in the last three days.

Loukoumakis was only 2 years old when he was discovered in a fire-ravaged home in the east Attica seaside town of Mati after last summer's devastating wildfires, frightened and injured.

A burnt swing hangs in a playground following a wildfire at the village of Mati, near Athens, July 25, 2018. A year since Greece's deadliest wildfire tore through coastal towns near Athens, killing 102 people, the road to normalcy for its survivors is long and dotted with burned down homes and barren land. [Reuters]

A year since Greece's deadliest wildfire tore through coastal towns near Athens, killing 102 people, the road to normalcy for its survivors is long and dotted with burned down homes and barren land.
On the side of one street, a giant white cross rises among black and wilting pine trees. "In memoriam 23-7-18," it reads.

Government spokesman Stelios Petsas has confirmed a series of measure to help people who suffered injuries and lost their homes in last summer's deadly wildfires in east Attica, confirming pledges made on Monday by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who attended a memorial service in the seaside town of Mati on Tuesday, the anniversary of the event.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was in the seaside town of Mati on Tuesday for a commemoration of last summer's deadly eastern Attica wildfires, which claimed 102 lives and caused widespread destruction.

Mitsotakis and other officials will also attend a religious service that will be held at 9.30 a.m. at the Church of the Dormition of the Virgin (Koimisis tis Theotokou).

New Citizens' Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis pledged to work hard to restore a sense of security for the public, noting that disasters like the deadly blaze in eastern Attica last year should never happen again.

The failure of the state apparatus to prevent the massive loss of life and the destruction of homes in the July 2018 wildfires in the east Attica towns of Neos Voutzas, Mati and Kokkino Limanaki have raised concerns about the country's ability to deal with potentially major wildfires this summer.

Crews from Greece's electricity distribution agency DEDDIE were called in to restore power to the area around Athens's Syntagma Square on Monday afternoon after a medium-voltage power line stopped working due to bad weather, the state-run Athens-Macedonian News Agency reported.

The wounds from last summer's deadly wildfires in eastern Attica are still very fresh. We can still hear the echoes of ministers' promises to bring out the demolition crews to tear down illegal structures on the country's coasts like those that contributed to the loss of life in the seaside town of Mati.