In the Italian Adriatic seaside resort of Bibione, tourists fled into the sea because of a forest fire. They were rescued by the Coast Guard.
(dpa) In the northern Italian town of Bibione, tourists fled into the sea because of a forest fire and were rescued there by the coast guard. According to media reports, the fire in the area popular with holidaymakers from Switzerland and Germany broke out on Friday afternoon. When asked on Saturday, the coast guard was initially unable to confirm whether Germans or Swiss were among the rescued. Several fire brigades and a fire-fighting helicopter fought the flames on the border between the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. The operation continued on Saturday.
Videos showed how fire ate up the trees and thick smoke rose into the sky, which could be seen from miles away. “We hope that it will not be revoked in the coming hours, but there should be no missing persons,” said the deputy mayor of San Michele al Tagliamento, Pierluigi Grosseto, the Ansa news agency.
#15luglio #SanMichelealTagliamento(VE), circoscritto al tramonto l’incendio che ha coinvolto la pineta di #Bibione. Impegnati squadre dei #vigilidelfuoco dei comandi del #Veneto e #FriuliVeneziaGiulia e squadre dell’antincendio della regione. In azione Drago 71 and Canadair pic.twitter.com/E1yF5LrPgb
— Vigil Fuoco Veneto (@vvfveneto) July 15, 2022
The police are investigating the cause of the fire. Because of the drought, Grosseto says it’s possible the flames were self-igniting. The forces fought four fires.
Several forest fires in Italy
In connection with the extreme drought, fire brigades are currently fighting forest and bush fires nationwide in Italy. In the municipality of Gereut (Frassilongo) in Trentino, northern Italy, 90 firefighters, two helicopters and two fire-fighting aircraft responded to a forest fire in an area of around 70 hectares. Firefighting continued on Saturday. The civil defense warned not to approach the area. The hiking and skiing area is east of Trento.
In Tuscany, the Lucca fire brigade had to put out fires in a burning olive grove on Friday. Forest and bush fires were also raging in Sicily and Sardinia, and fire-fighting aircraft were used to fight them.