Foreign firefighters and aircraft joined the battle Tuesday against blazes in southern Greece and officials expressed optimism that wildfires burning some of the country's lushes landscape could be brought under partial control. Greece also braced for the economic impact of the worst wildfires in memory, with the government budgeting nearly a third of a billion euros for immediate relief. The bill was expected to be much higher, the finance ministry said. The fires, which began about five days ago, have killed at least 64 people and burned olive groves, forest and orchards in southern Greece. The fire department said 56 fires broke out from Monday to Tuesday. The worst were concentrated in the mountains of the Peloponnese in the south and on the island of Evia north of Athens, spokesman Nikos Diamandis said. He said most of the efforts would be concentrated in those two regions, with most of the firefighters that have arrived from 17 countries operating in the Peloponnese.
