In the Puglia region of southern Italy, nearly 1,000 tourists were evacuated from a camping site following a massive fire that erupted in a nearby forested area.
The blaze began early Wednesday morning near San Felice Bay, a lush coastal region adjacent to the town of Vieste, located on the Gargano Peninsula in northern Puglia. Fueled by strong winds, the fire rapidly spread toward the village of Baia di Campi, which, situated approximately one kilometer from the origin of the fire, has the capacity to accommodate up to 1,200 guests.
Firefighters have deployed three Canadair water bombers and a helicopter in an effort to control the inferno. Giuseppe Nobiletti, Mayor of Vieste, described the situation as “critical” in statements to the Italian press.
Tourists without private transport were evacuated via boat, and are currently being housed in a gymnasium in Vieste.
The fire is part of a broader pattern of intense vegetation fires across Italy, particularly in the southern regions and on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, exacerbated by the current extreme heat. According to Coldiretti, Italy’s main agricultural association, over 10,000 hectares of land have been destroyed by fires, with nearly 8,400 hectares lost in the past month alone.
The recent fire follows a tragic incident last week in Matera, Basilicata, where two firefighters lost their lives while rescuing a family from a blaze.
Prosecutors in Foggia, a town in the Gargano region, have initiated an investigation into the cause of the fire. Mayor Nobiletti has suggested the possibility of arson. Historically, many of Italy’s summer forest fires have been attributed to human actions, either accidental or deliberate.
In a related incident last year, a fire on July 25 destroyed 250 hectares of forest in San Felice Bay, prompting the evacuation of 2,000 tourists from local campsites and hotels.