ATHENS – Greece’s major opposition SYRIZA again blamed the New Democracy government for the extent of damage of a wildfire that raced 25 miles from a village to the northern neighborhoods of the Greek capital, claiming one life.

“So many means, so much money, such planning and 4,000 fires, of which one managed to escape and – look and see – it was the one that burned half of Attica, reaching as far as Halandri,” the Leftists said in an announcement.

That was in reference to government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis telling SKAI TV that 80 percent of homes that burned failed to clear lots of combustible materials as required, no report whether they were fined or penalized.

That led SYRIZA, in a statement, to complain that, “For another year out of the five that Kyriakos Mitsotakis has ruled, the citizens are to blame and not his government,” and asking why “Forestry departments have delayed hiring” staff.

It added that the government had “lost its voice” and that the agency’s branch in d Istiea put out a call for staff a day before a large fire broke out in Attica.

“The given understaffing of forestry departments – which obviously comprise a significant link in the ‘chain’ of fire prevention and extinguishing – cannot be managed with retrograde hirings which follow a critical period, as shown by the intensity and number of fires that broke out in Greece recently.”

There was no mention of July 23, 2018 wildfires when SYRIZA was in power that killed 104 people, largely blamed on the government not having a disaster response plan nor an emergency warning texting service for cell phones.