Fires, still an emergency in Sicily: one victim, damages over 700 million

One dead, homes evacuated, damaged infrastructure and an economic toll that continues to rise. The fire emergency shows no respite for Sicily even at the beginning of September. Salvatore Giglia, the 26-year-old who was severely burned while trying to extinguish the flames near his home in Ciminna, died at dawn at the Civico hospital in Palermo. And while in the Palermo area the first victim of this new wave of fires is mourned, in Taormina the flames have reached inhabited areas. The fire, which started in the Sant’Antonio district near a nursing home, spread to the Zappulla and Tirone districts, threatening homes and forcing the evacuation of some houses. The flames also affected the area of the first rockfall gallery on via Garipoli, one of the main accesses to the city from the A18 highway. Firefighters, Forestry Corps, and Civil Protection intervened on the front with the support of Canadair planes and helicopters. The municipal aqueduct tank in the Tirone district was also severely damaged.

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In the afternoon, Mayor Cateno De Luca announced that the situation had been brought under control, after describing the most difficult hours as a “truly tragic” situation. The origin of the fire remains to be determined, on which the mayor himself has suggested the hypothesis of arson. The latest incidents worsen an already very heavy toll. According to data presented by the Regional Forestry Corps in the Environment Commission at the Ars, between July and August, 8,113 fires were recorded in Sicily, an average of about 135 per day. Just between Friday and Monday, firefighters carried out over 800 interventions, while over the weekend the Region counted 198 fires. The economic toll is especially growing. The latest available survey, conducted in mid-August, estimated the overall impact of the fires at about 629 million euros. This figure includes about 50 million for damage to buildings, productive activities, and infrastructure and for safety interventions; 159 million in damage to agricultural companies; 263 million to forest heritage, natural areas, and vegetation; another 157 million needed for reforestation and safety measures. As of the same date, about 25 thousand hectares had been affected by fire.

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But that snapshot essentially refers to the fires of July and the first part of August. Since then, the emergency has continued and the fires of recent days have again affected companies, countryside, homes, and infrastructure. A cautious projection, considering the trend of the second half of the month, now brings the order of magnitude of the total damage towards 700 million. However, this estimate will have to be verified by the Region: the census of agricultural companies closed only on August 31 and a new consolidated figure has not yet been published. Meanwhile, the regional government had allocated the first 25 million at the end of July, 15 million for Civil Protection interventions and 10 million for compensation to agricultural businesses.

The emergency does not concern only Sicily. In Sardinia, the fire that between August 28 and 29 burned about 300 hectares between Arzana and Elini, in Ogliastra, reignited, forcing the intervention again of a Forestry Corps helicopter. Another front opened in the countryside of Giave, in the Sassari area, in the Nuraghe S’Ammuradu locality, next to a photovoltaic field. In this case too, it is a reignition on the perimeter already affected by the fires of August 27 and 31, and the Regional Forestry Corps intervened with a helicopter that took off from the Anela base.

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