Forest and Bush Fires in France and Italy (26 July 1999)
Forest and Bush Fires in France andItaly
26 July 1999
France:
A blaze in the Provence region, near Saint Remy De Provence, burnt 2000 hectares of woods. On Saturday there were still about 1100 firefighters in action, which were supported by soldiers, till the fire was extinguished on Saturday, when the Mistral, a strong wind, dropped. 30 firefighters suffered from excessive smoke exposure.
On the island of Corsica approx. 20 fires burnt 800 ha of woods and bush.
Italy:
Two forest fires in the coastal regions around Genova and La Spezia, northwestern Italy, have threatened hotels and camping sites on Saturday. Three tourists were injured slightly and a voluntary firefighter died after falling into a ravine. Firefighters fought a 7.5 kilometres long fire front between Levanto and Bonassola and 250 tourists were evacuated from the vacation compound La Francesca near Levanto on Saturday.
At Avegna near Genova flames burnt five hectares of bush land.
Assisted by waterbombers the fire fighters managed to contain the fires on the weekend. Strong winds had fanned the flames before. There were several smaller fires in Sardinia. In central Italy (region Umbria) fires burnt about 60 hectares of forests and bush.
Italian and French experts suspected not only the strong winds but also arsonists responsible for the fires.
