In Greece, Helicopters Sent To Save Villagers Threatened by Wildfires

ATHENS, Greece — Firefighters rushed helicopters and buses yesterday to evacuate more than two dozen villages threatened by towering walls of flames that had killed 63 people while ravaging swaths of forest and farmland in Greece's worst wildfire disaster in memory.

Four days of devastating blazes from the northern border with Albania to the southern island of Crete unnerved and angered Greeks, drawing strong criticism of the government's response and setting off widespread suspicions and finger-pointing.

The government, which declared a state of emergency, implied the destruction could be part of an orchestrated campaign of arson. But environmental experts expressed skepticism.

People used garden hoses, buckets, tin cans, and branches in desperate — and sometimes futile — attempts to beat back the flames and save their homes and livelihoods.