ATHENS, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- A handful of sizeable but more-or-less contained wildfires now characterizes the situation on the ground on the sixth day of the wildfires that have ravaged southern Greece, the Greek fire brigade said on Wednesday.

    The official death toll has already reached 64 in the unprecedented wave of fires, which have ravaged the country amid ongoing scrutiny and rampant speculation of arson.

Burnt houses stud the village of Makinos, in the Zacharo area of Peloponnese. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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    Two sites in utterly devastated Ilia prefecture, in the western Peloponnese, and yet another front on Evia island, off eastern continental Greece, dominated fire-fighting efforts on Wednesday, although the danger now lies in the rekindling of wildfires in the numerous locations where they broke out since Thursday afternoon.

    Two new wildfires were reported in northwest Ioannina prefecture. The country remains in a state of emergency, which was declared on Saturday.

    Meanwhile, Wednesday witnessed the first full day of state-led efforts to aid stricken individuals and areas, with an emergency allocation of 3,000 euros (4140 U.S. dollars) for each affected household, on the heels of a series of measures to aid home owners, farmers and business owners affected by the fires.

    Local banks have also announced a series of relief measures, ranging from a complete write-off of debts for those enduring the loss of close relatives and major material losses to a blanket deferment of payments for credit cards and loans for borrowers in affected areas.

    The state has also deferred or halted payments to social security funds and the tax bureau in fire-ravaged regions.

    Total pledged donations, in money and material assistance by the private sector and individuals, have easily exceeded the 150-million-euro mark (207 million dollars).