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Nestled in the hills northeast of Athens, the once picturesque village of Grammatikos now sits in a charred and blackened wasteland. Goats rummage among burned plants, while weary and soot-covered residents take stock of the damage. Above, a steady stream of airplanes and helicopters ferry water from the sea to a nearby village, where the fire is still raging.

Since Aug. 21, Greeks have watched in horror as walls of fire have sped toward heavily populated villages and suburbs on the fringes of Athens. Tens of thousands of people have temporarily fled their homes, and more than 37,000 acres of land — including some of the last forest near the capital city — has gone up in smoke. At least 150 homes have been damaged, although, so far, there have been no casualties.

In Grammatikos, where the biggest fire began on Aug. 21, the flames are finally out. As rumors fly about the cause of the fire, for the residents, shock is quickly giving way to anger. Local mayor Nikos Koukis blames the government for responding too slowly and letting the fires get out of control. He says he kept vigil by the blaze all night as fire trucks battled the flames, waiting in vain for the arrival of water-bearing airplanes and helicopters. They finally arrived after 8 a.m. If they had come even an hour earlier, he says, the weekend's catastrophe could have been averted.

For many in Greece, the inferno is a case of devastating déjà vu. Almost exactly two years ago, more than 70 Greeks died in a wave of deadly blazes that seemed to sprout almost simultaneously around the country. The government pledged then to improve the country's overstretched fire services. But as they watch live coverage of panicked residents fleeing their homes once again, many Greeks are asking what, if any, lessons were learned from the tragedy in 2007.

That's likely to be bad news for Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis' already embattled center-right government, which is clinging to a slender single-vote majority in parliament. Already opposition parties on the right and left, as well as the national media, have begun accusing the country's leaders of neglect and incompetence. "Disorganization, indifference, criminal negligence give the final blow to Attica," declared the headline in the leftist daily Eleftherotypia, over the image of a blazing hillside.

As the winds eased early Monday, exhausted Greek firefighters gained the upper hand against the worst of the fires with the help of newly arrived reinforcements from Italy, France and Cyprus. Opposition politicians immediately began calling for more planes and helicopters, pointing out that Greece today has the same number of firefighting planes — 21 — as it did in 2007.

But forestry experts say more planes alone won't be enough to prevent major fires in Greece and other fire-prone countries along Europe's Mediterranean rim. Marc Palahi, head of the Mediterranean office of the European Forest Institute (EFI) in Barcelona, says climate change is making fires in the region more frequent and more deadly, but governments won't be able to tackle them effectively if they keep pouring money into firefighting rather than tackling the root causes. "Every year it's the same problem," he says. "We're just crossing our fingers and hoping the weather will be mild, rather than actually planning [ahead]. We have been implementing a fire-extinction strategy. We should be implementing a fire-prevention strategy."

By that he means managing forests better, improving public education on fire safety and being more careful about planning in places where urban development is expanding into wilderness areas, as on the outskirts of Athens. According to EFI, at least 90% of fires in Europe are caused by human activities — both accidental and intentional.

Environmental groups in Greece complain that in the wake of the 2007 fires, there have been no substantial education initiatives or forestry work. They also blame land developers for setting fires to clear land, especially in the heavily populated areas near Athens. Greece bans building in forest areas but has no official record of which areas are protected, along with a poor record of enforcing the ban in areas devastated by fire.

Greece's government has defended its response to both the 2007 blaze and this past weekend's, saying that fires are inevitable and that it responds to them as quickly as possible. Government spokesman Evangelos Antonaros told a press conference on Monday that efforts had been "well coordinated."

But back in Grammatikos, few are convinced. On Sunday afternoon, Christos Chrysinas, a local farmer, angrily confronted the police and firefighters who were keeping watch near where the fire began. About 200 of his olive trees were destroyed, and he nearly lost his house. But what angered him the most was the damage to the once beautiful forests and hills.

"I'm 42, and there's never been a fire like this here before," he says. "It's not just about the olive trees or how we're going to make a living. It's about the loss of the forest, the wildlife. We grew up here and we love this place."

• Nicole Itano / Grammatikos
• As Greece brings the forest fire that raged through the outskirts of Athens under control, Greeks who remember suffering through a similar blaze just two years ago are demanding their government do more to stop the burning