Eye of the Fire

The fire came without warning, exploding in the twilight. It ripped through bushy hills and roared down on the little seaside haven of Mati, just outside Athens.

In Australia, we'd have a plan in place. There would be a text message saying, ‘the fire is at such and such. Get out.' - Stella Tzaninis, Greek-Australian part time Mati resident

But this was Greece. Burning cars choked narrow lanes. Illegally built houses blocked escape routes to the sea. Fumbling police sent traffic into the path of the inferno.

I can hear the people - in the cars, the old people, lots of old people. You can do nothing – Alex Tzaninis, who tried to help people to safety

Many who did make it to the beach died of burns or drowned as nearby tourist ferries kept plying their trade, emptying more cars into the fire zone.

By the time firefighters came, Mati was gone. By the time fireman Andreas Dimitriou came home, his fatally injured wife Margarita was alongside his dead baby son.

I don't know who to be angry with – angry with God? Angry with people? Angry with myself? – Andreas Dimitriou

Andreas' wife and son are part of a death toll that stands at 99 and may still go higher.

Greece is ringing with recriminations.

I cannot think of a single part that went right in this disaster. How is it possible that the system could leave these people so helpless? In Greece there is no culture of planning for big public emergencies - Costas Synolakis, crisis management expert

Was this simply a case of bungling and zero planning? Or something more? Greeks are arguing whether deep spending cuts from EU-imposed austerity made a bad situation truly catastrophic.

Firefighters say their budgets and wages have been cut; they even have to buy their own uniforms. Many fire trucks sit unrepaired and useless, while water-bombing planes are frequently grounded.

We've been paying with our own blood for a debt they created. It was not an accident. It is a crime demanding justice and punishment – former parliamentary Speaker Zoe Konstantopoulou

Reporter - Eric Campbell

Producer - Mark Corcoran
Camera - Greg Nelson
Editor - Garth Thomas
Executive Producer - Marianne Leitch

*This is the last episode of Foreign Correspondent's current season. The program will return in early January.