The fire broke out in a hiking area in the municipality of Civitella di Romagna, it was said on Tuesday. The emergency services brought ten people from the flames to safety. A video showed thick smoke hanging over the hilly area. Strong winds fueled the fires again and again.
On the popular holiday island of Sicily, firefighters battled a bushfire on Tuesday in the coastal community of Trabia, east of Palermo. According to media reports, the flames also endangered residential buildings from which people were being taken to safety because they contained gas cylinders that could have caused enormous damage in the event of an explosion. The fire brigade also fought the fires from the air because the area was sometimes difficult to access.
Already burned 420 square kilometers
Forest and bush fires are favored by drought and are often attributed to negligent behavior by people or arson. Experts suspect the consequences of climate change are behind the drought in Italy this year. According to data from the European forest fire information system (Effis), around 420 square kilometers have already burned in Italy this year (as of August 13) – an area larger than the city of Cologne.
This is more than the average at this point in the previous 15 years. In this calculation, Effis only considers areas affected by fire that are 30 hectares or more.
Source: Nachrichten
