Vesuvius, fires continue. 50 hectares of nature reserve gone up in smoke
Environment — di Chiara Boracchi
In the night between Sunday and Monday, a third blaze broke out, between Torre del Greco and Pompei. The Vesuvius park continues to burn.
Vesuvius, fires continue. 50 hectares of nature reserve gone up in smoke
In the night between Sunday and Monday, a third blaze broke out, between Torre del Greco and Pompei. The Vesuvius park continues to burn.
The Vesuvius continues to burn, with the high flames recorded during the night between Sunday and Monday spreading to a new slope as well, between Pompei and Torre del Greco, currently the westernmost point reached by the fire. The archaeological site remains open, but those responsible for the area have urged tourists not to approach Vesuvius, so as to avoid hampering rescue operations.
The fires broke out between last Thursday and Friday, starting from the municipality of Terzigno, a town that forms part of the Ente Parco nazionale del Vesuvio and sits on the slopes of the volcano. In the days that followed, the fire spread to the neighbouring municipalities of Ottaviano, San Giuseppe Vesuviano and Boscotrecase, before reaching the Valle del Gigante as well. The new slope brings the number of active blazes to three.
Vesuvius has already lost 50 hectares of vegetation
The flames pose no danger to homes, but have devoured a considerable portion of the nature reserve: Marilena Scudieri, commander of the Carabinieri forestali in Boscotrecase, speaks of 50 hectares of woodland gone up in smoke, including part of a reserve already hit by fires in 2017. In the meantime, work continues to extinguish the fires, whose intensity is said to have diminished.
On Saturday 9th, Civil Protection minister Nello Musumeci signed a state of national mobilisation. Ground teams from the fire brigade and civil protection resumed their work at dawn this morning, as did the six canadair aircraft and four helicopters attempting to bring the flames under control from above. In particular, around 80 firefighters are deployed, with reinforcements from Emilia Romagna, Toscana and Marche and from the commands of Salerno and Caserta, along with 15 volunteer civil protection teams for land reclamation.
The Nola prosecutor's office opens an investigation
The Nola prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into the fire, entrusting the inquiry to the Carabinieri forestali, who have formed an investigative task force made up of officers with specialist expertise. At present, there are no hypotheses of criminal offences or suspects.