AP PHOTOS: A ferocious blaze scars the land outside Greece’s capital

MARATHON, Greece (AP) — In the blackened remains of his workshop, sculptor Vangelis Ilias stacks what little is left of years of his efforts.

In August, a ferocious wildfire swept through the mountains north of Athens, Greece's capital, pushing into the city and coming within feet of where Ilias created made-to-order tombstones, statues and other items out of white marble.

The flames ignited a gasoline-filled generator at his workshop, which burned for two days before he could get near the property. A bust of a Greek Orthodox saint was spared and now rests in front of the gutted and soot-covered site in the suburb of Halandri.

“It’s not the financial cost. I’ve lost my work — something spiritual,” Ilias said. “I’ve been doing this for 35 years, since I was a kid, aged 14.”