- The forest fire in the Gambarogno hills on Lake Maggiore has not yet been brought under control.
- The extinguishing work was interrupted on Tuesday night, but a fire brigade team was on site. It was supported by volunteers from Italy.
- As early as late Sunday evening, 32 people had to be brought to safety in the village of Indemini. 13 residents of the Ri, Pezze and Boè fractions had previously had to leave their homes.
- The fire is now raging over an area of just over six hectares, as the Ticino canton police announced yesterday.
Switzerland receives help from Italy to fight the forest fire on Monte Gambarogno in Ticino. Two fire-fighting aircraft from the neighboring country are now also being used for the extinguishing work.
Reinforcement from Varese
The two Canadair machines were sent in front of the national Italian fire brigade fleet, said the Swiss embassy in Rome on the short message service Twitter. The embassy thanked for the contribution in the context of cross-border cooperation.
The fire had previously been fought from the air. According to the Ticino authorities on Monday, six helicopters, including two Super Pumas from the Swiss Air Force, are supporting around 40 firefighters at the scene of the fire. In the morning, several voluntary forest firefighting teams from the province of Varese went to the site on the Italian side.
Endure in the icy night
The situation is quite worrying, Gambarogno Mayor Gianluigi Della Santa said yesterday. He was on a reconnaissance flight over the burning forests on Monday morning.
According to information from RSI, the extinguishing work had to be interrupted on Tuesday night because of the darkness. However, a ten-person ground team stayed on site when the temperatures were below zero. The aim was to guard and protect the area near the road leading to the village of Indemini, whose houses appear to have not yet been affected by the flames. The Bellinzona fire department spoke on Facebook of an “eventful night”.
The extinguishing work continues
After the coordination meeting this Tuesday morning, according to RSI information, further teams with a total of six helicopters are to be deployed in the coming days.
The Ticino canton police had reported that the evacuation had been carried out in consultation with the municipal authorities and for safety reasons because of the dense smoke. A total of 45 people have been brought to safety since Sunday morning.
Forest fire in the hills of Gambarogno (TI)
A civil defense facility was made available to the evacuees who had not found shelter with relatives. Because of the fire, the border crossing to Italy near Indemini and the cantonal road through the forest fire area were closed for safety reasons.