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WILDFIRES

MAP: Where are wildfires raging in Italy?

Hundreds of people have been evacuated as extreme temperatures fuel wildfires across Italy. Here’s where the blazes are currently causing the most damage.

Published: 8 August 2022 15:20 CEST
MAP: Where are wildfires raging in Italy?
Firefighters are working to put out wildfires across southern Italy and in parts of the north on Monday. Photo by Federico SCOPPA / AFP

Wildfires have caused devastation in many parts of Europe this summer, and Italy is no exception.

READ ALSO: Italian wildfires ‘three times worse’ than average as heatwave continues

The Italian fire brigade was called out to almost 33,000 forest or brush fires between June 15th and July 21st, with blazes reported everywhere from Puglia to Trentino-Alto Adige and Abruzzo to Sicily.

As exceptionally hot and dry conditions persist into August, yet more fires broke out over the weekend causing devastation up and down the country.

Here’s a look at the areas worst affected at the moment.

All active fires in Italy on Monday, August 8th. Map: European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).

Savona, Liguria (North-west)

Some 120 people were evacuated on Monday as a wildfire raged near Savona amid sweltering midsummer heat.

The fire burned through woodland in the area of Arnasco and Villanova d’Albenga over the weekend before intensifying.

The situation became critical overnight on Sunday, with several homes catching fire in Villanova d’Albenga, reported news agency Ansa.

More homes were at risk on Monday, firefighters said, particularly in the Borgo Verde and Coasco neighborhoods.

Helicopters and several Canadair planes were assisting fire crews on the ground on Monday.

Sicily (South-west)

“Half the island is burning,” read headlines in local Sicilian media on Monday, as firefighters were reportedly struggling to attend all the blazes reported across the island.

Sicily has been hit by the largest number of fires overall this summer, according to the national fire brigade.

In the provinces of Palermo, Ragusa, Messina, and beyond “a succession of fires are destroying hectares of woods and vegetation”, reports local newspaper La Sicilia, which added that many fires were believed to have been started deliberately.

READ ALSO: Italy is burning – but many wildfires could be prevented

A major fire on Monte Giancaldo, a mountain overlooking the city of Palermo, burned throughout Sunday night and into Monday, but fortunately didn’t reach residential areas.

No deaths or major incidents were reported, but the risk of fire damage to homes and land is ever-present on the island, where temperatures remain among the hottest in Italy.

Puglia (South-east)

Another part of Italy badly affected by wildfires this summer, like every year; in Puglia, firefighters were battling more than a dozen blazes on Monday.

These included two fires that burned 50 hectares of woodland in the Foggia area, and a blaze stretching for more than a kilometre in scrubland near the coast between Tricase Porto and Marina di Andrano, an area popular with holidaymakers.

Several houses in the area were evacuated on Sunday, while the Tricase-Andrano road was closed to traffic as fire crews battled the flames with assistance from Canadair planes.

As is the case in Italy every year, the most fires were reported in the hotter, drier southern regions.

READ ALSO: Will summer 2022 be Italy’s hottest ever?

Sicily has recorded the highest number of wildfires this summer, with firefighters called out 6,534 times so far according to fire brigade statistics.

Other regions worst affected were Puglia (5,134), Lazio (4,799), Calabria (3,195), Campania (2,730) and Tuscany (1,529

While prolonged hot and dry conditions make wildfires more likely – and more severe – the vast majority of such blazes in Italy are believed to be caused by human actions, and six in ten are started deliberately according to Coldiretti, Italy’s national farmers’ union.

Italy has registered at least three wildfires a day since the start of July, data from EFFIS shows.

Member comments

  1. Massarosa is west of Lucca – not east. It’s the commune between Lucca and Viareggio. At daylight today (21st) the Canadairs are still active on the fires above Massarosa

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CLIMATE CRISIS

Italy warns of water shortages after winter drought

Millions of people in Italy could see their water supplies disrupted again this spring, as authorities warned of likely shortages due to the severe drought hitting northern regions.

Published: 24 February 2023 11:50 CET
Italy warns of water shortages after winter drought

Households in some parts of Italy could face having their tap water supply limited in the coming months after dry weather led to a winter drought, Italy’s ANBI water resource association has warned.

“According to the data we have available, it is reasonable to believe that the tap water of at least three and a half million Italians cannot be taken for granted,” said ANBI President Francesco Vincenzi in a report published on Thursday.

READ ALSO: Why Italy is braced for another major drought this spring

He cited data from Italy’s National Research Council (CNR) which said between six and 15 percent of Italy’s population lives in areas exposed to severe or extreme drought.

The worst affected areas are expected to be northern Italian regions including Piedmont and Lombardy, which were among the parts of the country hit by water shortages in spring 2022.

The Italian government will hold a crisis meeting on Wednesday, March 1st, to discuss plans for mitigating the impact of the water shortage, Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper reported.

dried-up river

A photo taken on July 5, 2022, shows a dried-up stretch of the Po river in the northern region of Veneto. (Photo by Andrea PATTARO / AFP)

“The problem of drought is serious,” Corriere quoted Environment Minister Gilberto Pichetto as saying.

“We’ve only had half of the average amount of snow. We find ourselves with watercourses, lakes and reservoirs in a very critical state, and hydroelectric basins in extreme difficulty.”

The head of Italy’s department for civil protection, Nello Musumeci, said Italy needed “a realistic rationing plan”.

In summer 2022, the government declared a state of emergency in five Italian regions after a drought followed by early and particularly severe heatwaves left Italians lakes and rivers parched.

As a result, towns in regions including Piedmont, Liguria, Lombardy and Trentino last summer introduced water-rationing measures ranging from nightly restrictions on tap water to bans on using water for  washing cars and filling swimming pools.

The low level of rain and snowfall this winter has only exacerbated the situation, ANBI said, meaning things could be worse in 2023.

READ ALSO: The three Italian regions hit hardest by the climate crisis

The level of the Po, Italy’s biggest river, was at a record low, while rivers and lakes in central Italy were also under “extreme stress”, it added.

Melting snow is an important source of water for many areas in spring and summer and the lack of it this year is expected to prove problematic.

Alpine snow is Italy’s most important water reserve, since it supplies the Po River basin.

Whether or not Italy will face a drought as serious as last year is expected to largely depend on weather conditions in the next three months, which are usually the rainiest time of the year for many regions in the north.

ANBI said Italy must immediately plug the holes in its aqueducts, which it said lose 40 percent of water to leaks, and build new reservoirs to collect rainwater if it wants to prevent regular water shortages in future.

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