Three Greek firefighters have died fighting forest fires in Crete and the Peloponnese.

In Crete, gale-force winds fanned the flames, prompting the evacuation of several villages, and two firefighters died after being trapped when the fire swept through the Rethymno region in the west of the island.

Another firefighter died after being found unconscious near the port town of Gytheio, in the southern Peloponnese.

Meanwhile, a fourth summer heat wave has begun in Spain and France, and firefighters are trying to prevent the outbreak of large forest fires that have just been brought under control.

Witnesses said several fires broke out in Crete and spread quickly, with the worst fire front extending up to 15 kilometers (9.3 miles).

Residents and tourists were evacuated from Krya Vrysi, the mountain village where the two firefighters died.

“The wind is incredible, sometimes you can’t stand it. The flames were huge, it was very scary,” resident Chrissa Gioukaki told Reuters.

Forest fires have also broken out in other parts of Greece, on the islands of Paros and Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, and in the southern city of Trifylia on the Greek mainland.

In southern Turkey, the main road connecting Fethiye and Antalya had to be closed and part of a hospital had to be evacuated due to a fire in Muğla province.