Villasimius big fire close to the beach, swimmers fleeing the sea

Hellish scenes in Sardinia where a vast fire broke out near Punta Molentis in the Villasimius area on the afternoon of Sunday 27 July. The area is very popular with tourists and about 600 people were present on the beach at the time of the outbreak of the fire. Food by the wind, the flames advanced quickly and when the bathers caught the severity of the situation, for many it was impossible to leave the beach. In fact, the fire quickly reached the parking lot by burning several cars and blocking the exits (and accesses) to the beach.

Being impossible to pass by land, about 200 swimmers were brought to the way by sea Through the ships of the Port Authority of Cagliari between Motobarche and Inflatables. Some also intervened private citizens who with their boats have helped in the evacuation procedures of the beach.

The devastating fire destroyed one of the most beautiful and representative areas of Sardinia. The environmentalists of the Grig (legal intervention group) underlined how a real environmental jewel went in smoke. The mistral wind, which blows since yesterday afternoon, worsened the situation by feeding the flames that have thus reached a very large area.

Among the persons brought to the motorcycle of the Port Authority there were also one Woman in the sixth month of pregnancy and an asthmatic child. Fortunately, they are not injured. Two Canadair are engaged since the late afternoon of Sunday 27 July, in an attempt to contain the flames. Intervened two teams of firefighters, One coming from San Vito and one from the Castidas season headquarters that have struggled to contain the flames pushed by the mistral wind.