While hardly comparable with the enormous conflagrations being experienced in France and Spain, what was for Crete a major wildfire broke out in the south of the Nomos of Rethymnon on Wednesday, spreading along a front of 15 km, necessitating the evacuation of several villages and claiming the lives of two firemen. According to a report in Haniotika Nea, the fire broke out at midday on Wednesday 29th July near the village of Krya Vrisi and spread quickly as a result of strong winds, which made firefighting operations in the area extremely difficult.