The wildfire flames have spread rapidly across Crete, reaching homes as well as hotels and other tourist accommodations.

The blaze has been raging since Wednesday and fire crews say the conditions are creating new flare-ups, making containment efforts extremely difficult.

Greek firefighters on Wednesday (July 2) battled a blaze that raged on the popular vacation destination of Crete, burning forest land, threatening homes and prompting the evacuation of residents and tourists from at least four settlements on the island.