Bipartisan fight against wildfires

The huge fire that burned thousands of acres and found its way into the suburbs of Athens brought to the forefront the need not only for being better prepared, but also for being proactive, both in the short term, by taking precautionary measures when and where the probability of fire is high, and, most importantly, in the long term, by setting up a well-planned system that transcends parties and personalities.

The present government might pay a political price for the disaster, as its predecessor did with another huge and deadly fire six years ago, or it might not. The center-left opposition criticized last week's handling of the situation, as the conservatives had done when they were in the opposition in similar disasters.

But the real issue here is for Greece as a country, regardless of which party is in power whenever a natural disaster hits, to be ready to deal...