Italy: Forest Fires in Italy 1998 (IFFN No. 21 – September 1999)
(IFFN No. 21 – September 1999,p. 60-70)
Between 1 January and 31 December 1998 a total of 31,9540 forest fires occurred in Italy, involving a total area of 155,553 ha, of which 73,017 ha were wooded and 82,536 ha were non-wooded.
As compared to 1997, forest fires worsened greatly, not so much in terms of the number of fires as in terms of the area burned. The area burned in 1998 was 60% higher than the average of the last ten years. The total area struck by forest fires is three times that of 1995 and 1996, despite the increase in defence capabilities. This increase depended largely on the weather conditions: in fact, the summer was the hottest and muggiest of the last six centuries. Compared to the same period, the wooded area affected by fire increased by 4 times during 1998.
Tab.1. Number of forest fires and area burned by fires from 1987 to 1998
What is definitely alarming about this statistic is the average area per fire, which went from 9.6 ha per fire in 1997 to 16.3 ha per fire in 1998. Extending the observation period from January to December, the Regions most affected in terms of the areas struck by fire are consistently Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia. In Calabria, each fire covered an average 49.2 ha, in Sicily 40 ha, and in Abruzzo 32.2 ha, values clearly over the national average registered in the past 10 years.
Forest fires in the last decade have taken on a specific characteristic in terms of time and space, affecting mainly, during the summer, the Regions of Southern Italy and the Tyrrhenian Coast, and in the winter, the Alpine regions. Also in 1998, climate influenced the winter fires: wind and a lack of precipitation made the vegetation prone to fire.
Fig.1. Long-term fire statistics of Italy for the period 1970-1998: Annual number of fires (upper), area affected by fire (middle), and average area burned per fire (lower)
Tab.2. Forest fires in 1998 by Region
Fig.2. Graphic illustration of wooded area burned in 1998 by Region
Tab.3. Forest fires by month
Fig.3. Distribution of the number of forest fires by month during the period 1996-1998
Over the winter period, from January to March, 1,760 fires occurred, while the area struck by fire was equal to 15,641 ha, of which 9,525 ha wooded, over 10% of the wooded area that burned in the entire year of 1998. During the winter, the Regions most affected were, in decreasing order: Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, and Tuscany, in terms of total burnt area.
In the summer period, characterised by prolonged drought, very high temperatures, strong winds and touristic mobility, fires were particularly serious: 6,182 fires occurred (65% of the annual total), involving a total area of 115,808 ha (74% of the annual total), of which 51,236 were wooded areas (70% of the annual total).
The Regions most affected were, in decreasing order: Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, both for the total area struck by fire, and for the wooded areas burnt. Again, Sardinia, Calabria, and Sicily were the Regions that registered the most number of fires in the summer period.
In the summer period, characterised by prolonged drought, very high temperatures, strong winds and touristic mobility, fires were particularly serious: 6,182 fires occurred (65% of the annual total), involving a total area of 115,808 ha (74% of the annual total), of which 51,236 were wooded areas (70% of the annual total).
The Regions most affected were, in decreasing order: Calabria, Sicily, Sardinia, both for the total area struck by fire, and for the wooded areas burnt. Again, Sardinia, Calabria, and Sicily were the Regions that registered the most number of fires in the summer period.
Fig.4. Left: Areas at risk of forest fires in the first quarter (1989-1999 period). Right: Areas at risk of forest fires in the third quarter (1989-1999 period).
Most fires began on Sundays, confirming the trend of previous years:
Fires by the days of the week (%)
From the analysis of fires by the size of the area, it comes out that the worst damage caused by fire is due to those fires that struck an area of over 100 ha. Such fires affected 54.2% of the wooded areas burned in 1998. Fires that affected less than 1 ha were 52.1% of the total.
Tab.4. Fires in size of area (%)
The worst fires of 1998 took place, in winter time, in Lombardy and Veneto, and, in summer time, in Calabria and Sicily. In all cases, the average area per fire was extremely high. In Calabria, 17 fires were over 1,500 ha in size on average for each fire.
Tab.5. Number of fires affecting wooded land exceeding 100 ha
The analysis of the percentage incidence of the number of fires by the orographic type of territory shows that 61.9% of fires developed in the hillsides and 30.9% in the mountains (Tab.6).
Tab.6. Percentage incidence of the number of wildfires by orographic type of terrain and by altitude in 1998.
The majority of fires developed at altitudes under 1000 m a.s.l.: Only 7.4% of all fires occurred on altitudes >1000 m a.s.l.. Conditions of moderate or strong winds favoured the spreading of 50.3% of fires, while conditions of very strong winds affected 1% of fires.
Causes of Fires in 1998
The analysis of the causes of fires in 1998 confirms once again the high incidence of human responsibility for the destruction of wooded areas struck by fires, of which 76.3% is due to deliberate action.
The analysis of accidental causes in 1998 allows us to affirm that most fires that occurred for these reasons were due to agricultural activity, followed by cigarettes and matches, which contributed significantly to the starting of fires. Recreational activities had a modest effect, confirming that civic sense is continuously increasing among citizens.
In order to put out fires, 155,752 interventions were necessary in all of Italy (excluding Sardinia), including forestry personnel, fire brigades, police, armed forces, workers, and volunteers.
Unfortunately, again in 1998, fires took victims. Six people, specifically one worker, one member of the police force, two citizens, and two arsonists died in Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Calabria and Sicily. The wounded amounted to 81, of which 34 were workers and volunteers, 12 were forestry personnel, 13 firemen, 14 from local organisations, and 8 arsonists.
The global evaluation of damages, in terms of wood mass destroyed and costs related to the restoration of forest cover, amounts to approximately 90 billion lire, of which 60 for fires caused deliberately.
Tab.7. Causes of fires in 1998
Fig.5. Forest fires by causes in 1998
Use of Aircraft in Forest Fire Fighting
In 1998, the Unified Aircraft Operations Centre co-ordinated the use of aircraft over 1,400 fires, carrying out 2,787 missions for a total of 6,464 hours of flying time. For the fire-fighting missions co-ordinated by the Unified Aircraft Operations Centre, the following aircraft were uses (Tab.8):
Tab.8. Types of aircraft, flying times, missions and launches involved in fire protection operations in Italy in 1998
The Aircraft Operations Centre of the State Forestry Corps
The Aircraft Operations Centre of the State Forestry Corps, which is involved with its own helicopters in the fight against forest fires, has at its disposal 13 Breda Nardi NH500 helicopters and 9 Agusta Bell 412. The helicopters of the State Forestry Corps operate both in activities of a preventive character and in direct intervention on fires by dropping water from helibuckets.
The helicopter of the State Forestry Corps are also used for the transportation of personnel and fire-fighting equipment, as well as for the co-ordination work of other fire-fighting aircraft sent by the Unified Aircraft Operations Centre of the Civil Protection Forces.
Tab.9. Fire-fighting aircraft missions by regions (total number of missions: 2,787)
Tab.10. Use of helicopters of the State Forestry Corps in 1998
A.I.B.: Anti Incendi Boschivi = Anti Forest Fire Mission
Tab.11. Activities carried out on fires, by month flying hours
The helicopters of the State Forestry Corps are stationed at the main base of RomaUrbe Airport and are repositioned over the national territory in high-risk periods to reduce as much as possible the time required for intervention against fires.
The European Union Information System on Forest Fires – «The Common Core»
In 1994, the European Commission adopted the 804/94 Regulation, related to the activation of the information system on forest fires. Thanks to this regulation, the survey of a series of data for each fire (the Common Core), is carried out systematically in all the areas that Member States have classified as being at risk.
Currently, the information system The Common Core contains information on over 500,000 forest fires in 319 provinces of the six member states Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Greece for the period of 1985 to 1996.
Tab.12. Detailed composition of the minimum common core of information on forest fires
We also have an instrument that provides useful indications of the adoption of forestry strategies for the safe-guarding of forests against fires. This instrument allows us to understand and analyse the phenomenon of fires, to examine the incidence of the actions taken and to highlight the strong and weak points of current defence structures, providing quality indicators for the evaluation of these structures.
The Common Core also provides useful indications for ample international co-operation:
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for the activation of Resolution No. 3 of the Ministerial Conference of Strasbourg related to the protection of forests in Europe against fires (Strasbourg, 1990), the objective of which is to facilitate and encourage the exchange of information on forest fires as homogenous as possible between the various signatory states, with the intention of jointly promoting and improving preventive measures
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in the sphere of the activities of the ECE/FAO committee, concerning forestry statistics
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in the Mediterranean basin, in the context of the work of the CFFSA/CEF/CFPO committee regarding Mediterranean forestry questions “Silva Mediterranea” and the International Centre for Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.
Legal references in the forest fire sector
Law no. 47 of 1 March 1975: “Additional norms for the protection of forests against fires”.
Decree no. 616 of 24 July 1977: “Activation of the delegate from art. 1 of law no. 382 of 22 July 1975.
Law no. 689 of 24 November 1991: Modifications to the penal system”.
Law no. 424 of 4 August 1984: Inclusion of administrative sanctions regarding forest fires defence norms”.
Law no. 431 of 8 August 1985: Converting Decree no. 312/82, “Urgent measures for the safe-guarding of areas of special environmental interest”.
Law no. 752 of 8 November 1966: “Long-term law for the activation of planned intervention in agriculture”.
Law no. 183 of 18 May 1989: “Norms for the reorganisation of soil defence”.
Law no. 225 of 24 February 1992: “Founding of the National Civilian Protection Service”.
Law no. 428 of 29 October 1992: “Urgent measures to confront the risk of fires in protected areas”.
Law no. 497 of 8 August 1994: “Urgent measures to confront forest fires nationally”.
Law no. 339 of 8 August 1995: “Urgent measure to prevent and to confront forest fires nationally”.
Law no. 112 of 31 March 1998: “Transfer of functions and administrative tasks from the State to the Regions and local organisations, in accordance with Law no. 59 of 15 March 1997”.
Law no. 61 of 30 March 1998: “Urgent measures against forest fires.”
Authors of this report:
Anna Scipioni, Bernardo Gabellini, Franco Caldari, and Roberto Cavalensi
State Forestry Corps, Forest Fire Protection Service & Statistics Office
International Contact:
Franco Cozza
Director, Division III – International Relations
Ministère des Politiques Agricoles
Corpo Forestale di Stato
Via G. Carducci, 5
00187 Rome
ITALY
Fax: ++39-06-481-7690
Tel: ++39-06-485-841
e-mail: div3@corpoforestale.it
