At least 55 active fires in Sicily alone, but the emergency also affects Calabria and Puglia.
The torrid heat that is not giving respite to southern Italy, while the northern regions of the country are dealing with unprecedented waves of bad weather, is fomenting and fueling dozens and dozens of fires between Sicily, Calabria and Puglia which have already caused four victims.
High alert for fires in Palermo
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The most serious situation is concerning Palermowith the hills surrounding the city now on fire for hours, between the Capo Gallo promontory overlooking the Mondello hamlet and the Pizzo Sella hill, but also on the hill overlooking the Cervello hospital in Palermo, but some fires also in the district of Santa Maria di Gesù.
3 confirmed victims in Palermo
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The provisional balance in the Palermo area alone is 3 people died in the fires. An 88-year-old woman died in her home in San Martino delle Scale after the firefighters, alerted by the woman’s illness, they failed to reach in time his home due to the flames that were ravaging the area. The others two victims, not yet identified, were found this afternoon in a small house in Cinisi, a short distance from Palermo airport. The small house, already in precarious conditions, was invaded by flames and the two people, aged 77 and 75 according to the local press, they died charred.
fire alert throughout Sicily
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The firefighters have been at work for hours now, but the emergency doesn’t seem destined to end soon, thanks to the strong heat and the absence of rain for too long now. In the Palermo area alone they are counted 1,500 people displaced and at least 20 homes damaged from the flames, but blackouts are very frequent and the 118 lines are clogged due to too many calls and signals. The Sicily Region communicated in the evening that at the moment they are still counted 55 active firesnot only in Palermo.
THE words of the governor of the Sicily Region
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The governor Renato Schifani confirmed the high alert for fires also in the next few hours in almost all of Sicily: “The fire risk will be high in the areas of Palermo, Trapani, Enna, Messina, Catania and Syracuse and medium for the provinces of Agrigento, Caltanissetta and Ragusa”. Evacuations are also underway in Messina in these hours, where the flames are advancing on the hills surrounding the city, but also in Taormina where the fires are threatening the Feo Coniglio district.
Fires also in Puglia
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The fires are also affecting Puglia. TO Vieste two thousand tourists have already been evacuated from three hotels threatened by fires, while in San Cataldo, on the outskirts of Lecce, two huge fires which broke out around lunchtime devoured over 10 hectares of Mediterranean scrub and prompted a hundred bathers to flee the area while residents in neighboring areas were asked by the authorities to leave their homes and avoid heading towards the Adriatic resort.
A victim of fires also in Calabria
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The fourth victim ascertained up to now was registered in the province of Reggio Calabria, where the fires are affecting the hilly area between Mosorrofa, Gallina and Cardeto. Here a 98-year-old man, unable to move independently, died in his country house which was engulfed in flames. The man’s daughter and son-in-law were injured, not seriously.
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