The summer of 2021 in Italy is a season of fires. Our country is caught in a grip of wildfires and several regions have been hit by the flames, just as there are several causes: arsonists are not the only ones behind the fires burning through Sardinia, Sicily, Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, Puglia and Calabria — there is also a lack of planning for woodland areas and the depopulation of the most vulnerable areas.

The first fires in Sardinia

The first region to be hit by fires was Sardinia: the toll from the blazes that broke out on the night of 23 July 2021 stands at 20,000 hectares burned and nearly 1,500 people displaced. The flames were concentrated in particular in the province of Oristano: a large wildfire started in the territory of the municipality of Bonarcado and, fanned by strong winds, spread as far as Cuglieri, destroying woodland, olive groves (including a thousand-year-old tree), cultivated fields, farms and homes.

After fifteen days of fire (which also affected the provinces of Cagliari and Nuoro), people are beginning to count the damage: some estimate losses of one billion euros, and others — referring to Coldiretti's monitoring — argue that it will take at least 15 years to restore the ecosystem. Regional president Christian Solinas has asked the government to allocate part of the Piano nazionale di ripresa e resilienza (Pnrr) to a major reforestation plan for Sardinia.

Sicily is burning too

One of the most acute fronts remains that of Sicily, where the provinces of Catania, Enna, Palermo, Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Siracusa are burning. The fires broke out on Friday 30 July, starting from the plain of Catania and reaching the outskirts of the city. No injuries were reported, but the images are apocalyptic: burned cars and land, evacuated houses, holiday villages and businesses. An entire beach resort was destroyed.

Sicily is the region with the highest number of call-outs by the fire brigade. The column of smoke rising from the fires that broke out in recent days at Piana degli Albanesi, in the province of Palermo, was photographed by Nasa satellites. The Madonie park, one of the region's green lungs, has also caught fire. A deployment of Canadair aircraft made it possible to bring under control the flames that for three days had lapped at inhabited areas, destroying centuries-old trees and killing or injuring animals.

Fires along the Adriatic coast

After Sardinia and Sicily, in chronological order the flames devastated the Pineta Dannunziana nature reserve, in the province of Pescara, Abruzzo. Around fifteen outbreaks developed from the coast to the hills. Sparks driven by the wind even set fire to the palm trees at evacuated beach establishments, while numerous residents took to the streets and tried to save their homes with makeshift means such as buckets and garden hoses.

Assessing the full extent of the damage will take time, but in the meantime the images of the nature reserve speak for themselves. "This part of the Pineta is an integral reserve and it has been completely destroyed. It makes you want to cry when you look at it. The environmental damage is incalculable. This is where Pescara's roots lie. This is the heart of the city, its green lung, and today we see it destroyed," said the mayor of Pescara, Carlo Masci.

Vigili del Fuoco @vigilidelfuoco

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243 interventi in corso dei #vigilidelfuoco per fronteggiare gli #incendi boschivi. Nelle immagini il lavoro del #Canadair a Gravina di Puglia (BA) per spegnere le fiamme che stanno impegnando le squadre da quattro giorni, bruciando 350 ettari di vegetazione [#2agosto 14:00]

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And while the Abruzzo fires spread between Ortona and the province of Teramo, the fire brigade is also at work in the Marche, where for nine hours traffic came to a standstill and tourists abandoned several facilities due to large fires that burned scrubland between Castelfidardo, Numana and Porto Recanati. On the Adriatic coast, the fire has not spared Puglia either, where blazes are spreading from the province of Bari to Gravina. The fire that has been affecting the Bosco Difesa Grande for days, and which had initially been contained, has regained strength, driven by the wind and aided by scorching temperatures.

After Molise, now Calabria

Lower Molise continues to burn too: firefighters are tackling outbreaks that flared up at Campomarino Lido and Guglionesi, and also in the territory of San Giacomo degli Schiavoni, between Campobasso and Isernia. In total, around one thousand people have been evacuated: in Guglionesi, 15 apartments were vacated by families during the fire that lapped at the built-up area, and 40 people were displaced, while in Campomarino tourists from a campsite and two other tourist facilities were evacuated. The Adriatic state road and the railway were also blocked for several hours.

As if that were not enough, now Calabria is burning too. In Lamezia, a woodland area near the Nicastro cemetery caught fire, while another blaze affected a stretch of state road, causing slowdowns and disruption to traffic. Further fires also broke out in Maida, Cardinale, San Sostene and in the surrounding area of the municipality of Catanzaro. Since 15 June, the start of the firefighting campaign, there have been 3,785 call-outs by the fire brigade in Calabria.

The causes of the fires

Behind the Pescara fires, three ignition devices prepared by arsonists were found; the carabinieri in Agnone, north of Isernia, arrested a fifty-year-old man with blackened hands and pockets full of lighters; in Alghero another arsonist was arrested, while the public prosecutor's office in Oristano opened a file for culpable arson. So, behind the fires there is undoubtedly the hand of man. But pyromania — that is, ignition caused by people with a psychiatric disorder — is not the only explanation: as the Ecomafie report by Legambiente explains, the motivations also include retaliation, revenge, the renewal of areas designated for grazing, and the illegal interests of criminal organisations.

And then there is the chronic lack of maintenance. Italy is a heavily wooded country, with 38 per cent of its total national surface area covered by forests. According to the new head of the national fire brigade, Guido Parisi, "it is the dry and windy climate that favours the spread of fires", he said, commenting on the Abruzzo blazes. But according to Parisi, spontaneous combustion is an extremely rare occurrence. "A natural cause can exist — for example, when there is lightning — but what triggers the flames is unfortunately, very often, the neglect of woodland areas, the behaviour of those who leave rubbish behind without caring about the consequences, and a lack of maintenance." To change course, therefore, what is needed is investment "in prevention but also in civic education, to teach schoolchildren respect for woodlands."

Vigili del Fuoco @vigilidelfuoco

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#1agosto, sono 658 gli interventi dei #vigilidelfuoco effettuati #oggi per gli #incendi boschivi in tutto il paese, 299 in corso. A supporto delle squadre, i #Canadair del Corpo impegnati in 15 interventi: nella clip il lavoro di un Canadair nel comune di Aidone (EN)

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And, among other factors, it is essential not to ignore the reports coming from local communities. Last 7 June, a committee of Sardinian citizens had sent a letter to the mayor of Cuglieri, one of the towns affected by the fires. "In this area, made up of many hectares of woodland, there exists a state of abandonment and neglect that has turned the mountain into a ticking time bomb," reads the letter sent to the authorities. In the appeal for help, the citizens highlighted how the vegetation had been left to its own devices, due to the lack of forestry policies and prevention plans, turning the Monteferru area into a dangerous "fuel depot." Just over a month later, the fires would break out in precisely this zone.