Italy fights wildfires from Tuscany to Trieste

Fire brigades in Tuscany on Wednesday battled for a second day to control a wildfire that has forced hundreds to evacuate, while a blaze in northeast Italy spread to Slovenia and threatened to leave the city of Trieste without power and water.

Wildfires have broken out in several parts of Italy this week as temperatures keep rising.

Nine cities were on the country’s highest heatwave alert, which warns of serious health risks linked to the weather, up from five on Tuesday. The total is expected to rise to 14 on Thursday, including Rome, Milan and Florence and 16 on Friday.

Temperatures are forecast to hit 40 degrees across a swathe of the north and centre this week, as well as in Puglia in the south and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily.

On Wednesday, a fire that broke out on Monday evening near the Tuscan town of Lucca continued to burn, having already destroyed some 650 hectares (1,600 acres) of woods.

It forced about 300 people to evacuate as the flames raged through the night reaching some villages and causing some liquefied gas tanks to explode, said the region’s governor, Eugenio Giani.

“Some fronts have strengthened because of the wind,” said Mr Giani. “We’re aiming to contain the fire within a set area by tonight when [helicopters and Canadair water bombers] stop flying.”

The northeastern Friuli Venezia Giulia local administration prepared to widen to the entire region a fire alert after a blaze that started on Tuesday in the Carso area bordering Croatia and Slovenia.

Residents were urged to stay indoors on Wednesday because of the heavy smoke and state-owned shipbuilder Fincantieri closed down a plant employing 3,000 in the Adriatic port city of Monfalcone.

As the fire crossed the border into Slovenia, the residents of four villages seen at risk from the flames have been urged to leave their homes, Italian media reported.

Trieste mayor Roberto Dipiazza told a local television channel that parts of the city of about 200,000 people could soon stop receiving electricity, without specifying why, and that this would affect water supply because pumps would not be able to function.

Situation in France

In France, agriculture minister Marc Fesneau said the country must invest more money in fighting wildfires, as President Emmanuel Macron prepared to visit the southwestern Gironde region where a large area has been burned.

“We must go further,” Mr Fesneau told France 2 Television. He said the government had already earmarked €850 million to upgrade its fleet of fire-fighting planes, as well as €1 billion for replanting trees.

“We are having to confront a quite exceptional situation, we are talking about more than 20,000 hectares affected in Gironde, 1,500 in Finistere and 1,500 in the Bouches du Rhone,” added Mr Fesneau, referring to damage caused in Brittany and southern France.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran told reporters that Mr Macron had requested the requisition of two civil helicopters to help firefighters battling the Gironde fires.

Firefighters in southwestern France have been battling since July 12th to contain massive forest wildfires while Britain recorded its highest ever temperature on Tuesday, as a heatwave swept across Europe. — Reuters

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