Among the problems were the fire brigade's advice to evacuate the area was not heeded and the meteorological service failed to warn of strong winds | Valerie Gache/AFP via Getty Images Greek firefighters criticize government over deadly blaze Dimitris Stathopoulos, head of the firefighters’ federation, said that ‘apologies are owed’ following the fires that killed 88 people.

The Greek government's response to wildfires near Athens that killed 88 people was criticized by firefighters Sunday for "mistakes" and austerity measures that hampered their ability to tackle the blaze.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has faced criticism over his response to the disaster, but the comments from the head of the firefighters' federation will pile more pressure on the Greek leader.

"The government might be saying there were no grave operational mistakes, but what it isn’t saying is that there were thousands of small mistakes," Dimitris Stathopoulos told The Observer.

Among the problems were that the fire brigade's advice to evacuate the area was not heeded and the meteorological service failed to warn of strong winds, incapacitating an aerial response to the flames, Stathopoulos said.

The government's poor response was also due to austerity measures, according to Strathopoulos, with 30 percent of fire trucks out of service due to budget cuts: "As firefighters we take an oath to protect people and their properties. We know when to recommend that areas be evacuated, but for some reason our recommendation was not heard. This is a huge tragedy for our country and apologies are owed.”

The government's decision to blame arsonists also backfired, with experts from the fire service saying this was not the cause, and opposition leaders criticizing the government for using the claim to shirk responsibility.

Yanis Varoufakis, a former finance minister in Tsipras' cabinet said: “With such incendiary claims … officials avoid having to admit their lack of preparedness."

Tsipras on Friday took "full responsibility" for the tragedy, and said he was "anguished" by the question of whether public authorities had responded adequately to the lethal wildfires, but failed to answer calls for the resignation of Nikos Toskas, the civil protection minister.