The Hellenic Fire Service has confirmed that three firefighters died tackling wildfires on Crete and in the Peloponnese on July 29, as the blazes ravaging southern Europe shifted eastwards. Initial reports indicated they were volunteers and may have died of asphyxiation, though the cause has not been formally established. A third firefighter died near Gytheio in Laconia, in the southern Peloponnese, after being found unconscious outside the perimeter of a separate fire. The Rethymno fire remained out of control on July 30, with 224 firefighters, 53 engines and 11 specialist forest units deployed alongside volunteers. Funerals for the two firefighters killed on Crete were held on July 30.