- Title: Locals nervous after wildfire breaks out east of Rome
- Date: 13th August 2021
- Summary: TIVOLI, ITALY (AUGUST 13, 2021) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SMOKE RISING FROM WILDFIRES BEHIND VIEW OF THE VILLAGE OF TIVOLI VARIOUS OF FLAMES VARIOUS OF EMERGENCY SERVICES LIGHT ON POLICE CAR / FLAMES IN DISTANCE CIVIL PROTECTION OFFICER ADJUSTING MASK FLAMES / SOUND OF HELICOPTER HELICOPTER DROPPING WATER ON WILDFIRES SMOKE RISING AS TREES BURN DOG POKING HIS HEAD OUT OF WALL, THEN HIDING BEHIND IT VARIOUS OF CATTLE FARMER, WALTER PERSILI, OUTSIDE BUILDINGS THAT ARE THREATENED HOUSES AND FARMS ON OUTSKIRTS OF TIVOLI FLAMES RISING FROM VEGETATION ON FIRE PERSILI SPEAKING TO LOCAL / POLICE STOOD BEHIND FIRE RAGING (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CATTLE FARMER, WALTER PERSILI, SAYING: PERSILI SAYING: "Let's hope the cows do not die..." JOURNALIST ASKING: "There are firefighters working to tame the fire, do you think the situation will be resolved?" PERSILI SAYING: "We hope..." JOURNALIST ASKING: "When did all this start? PERSILI SAYING: "Yesterday... me and my son were there. What are you gonna do? It's life." JOURNALIST ASKING: "Did you get the animals out safely?" PERSILI SAYING: "Where do I take them? Where shall I take them? They are free. Let's hope they...Where shall I take them? To the barn? So they can burn?" FLAMES VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER DROPPING WATER ON FIRES BURNT TREES LOCAL RESIDENTS BURNT VEGETATION SURROUNDING A CHURCH SMOKE RISING FROM BURNT TREE TRUNK BURNT VEGETATION BY CHURCH (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) PRIEST AND HEAD OF TIVOLI'S 'DON BOSCO' CHRISTIAN FOUNDATION, BENEDETTO SERAFINI, SAYING: "We were surrounded by this fire that started yesterday (August 12) morning at five o'clock on the railway line towards Rome. The fire then spread towards the pine forest and the mountains and last night it reached our building, we were a bit scared but we're safe. The building was not damaged by the fire. I'm sorry about the trees but they will be replanted." BURNT PHOTOGRAPHS OF PRIESTS VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTER USING HOSE IN BURNT BUILDING BURNT PHOTOGRAPHS ON GROUND, FIREFIGHTER STEPPING OVER THEM FIREFIGHTER USING HOSE INSIDE BURNT BUILDING SMOKE RISING FROM BURNT DEBRIS VIEW OF VILLAGE / STATUE FIRE ENGINES PARKED NEAR VILLAGE FIRE ENGINE DRIVING AWAY HELICOPTER FLYING OVER FLAMES LOCALS WATCHING FIRES FROM BALCONY VEGETATION ON FIRE VARIOUS OF HELICOPTER COLLECTING WATER FROM RIVER AND FLYING TOWARDS WILDFIRES EMERGENCY SERVICE WORKER AT WORK NEAR FIRES FLAMES CANADAIR PLANE DROPPING WATER ON FLAMES FLAMES HELICOPTER DROPPING WATER ON FIRES / SMOKE BILLOWING
- Embargoed: 27th August 2021 15:40
- Keywords: Italy Monte Catillo Rome Tivoli Wildfires fire fire brigade forest fire nature reserve
- Location: TIVOLI, ITALY
- City: TIVOLI, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Europe,Wildfires/Forest Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA001EQ45OP3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:Locals were evacuated from small communities around 40 km (25 miles) east of Rome on Friday (August 13) when a wildfire broke out as the Italian capital faced temperatures of around 37 degrees Celsius (99 Fahrenheit).
The heatwave moved north from the south of the country that has been plagued by wildfires in recent weeks, and overnight 25 families were evacuated from their homes as fires spread through the nature reserve of Monte Catillo, near the Rome suburb of Tivoli.
Around 30 residents of the 'Don Bosco' Christian home for poor children and orphans were also evacuated to escape the flames.
The Monte Catillo nature reserve covers about 1,320 hectares on the mountains of Tivoli, a town that hosts Villa d'Este, a 16th-century villa that is one of the symbols of the Italian Renaissance listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Later on Friday, Canadair planes and helicopters were aiding firefighters to tame the flames that were still burning the reserve, with water from the Aniene river that flows through the village.
Local cattle farmer Walter Persili owns 15 cows that graze freely in the reserve but after the fire, he was anxious about their safety.
"Where do I take them? Where shall I take them? They are free. Let's hope they...Where shall I take them? To the barn? So they can burn?" he said.
Nearby, a local church was surrounded by burnt vegetation from the blaze, with smoke still rising from destroyed tree trunks. Stacks of photographs of people and priests were covered in ash in a nearby building that had been destroyed by the flames, as a firefighter used a hose to extinguish what remained.
The head of Tivoli's Don Bosco home, from which 30 residents were evacuated overnight, said the fire started on a railway line towards Rome on Thursday, that spread to the forest and mountains, reaching their building.
"We were a bit scared but we're safe. The building was not damaged by the fire. I'm sorry about the trees but they will be replanted," he said.
Swathes of southern Italy have been plagued by wildfires in recent weeks, with flames ravaging woodland in Calabria, in the toe of the Italian boot, and on the islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
Wednesday (August 11) saw the temperature reach almost 49 Celsius in south-eastern Sicily, reported as the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe.
Wildfires also broke out overnight near the town of Otranto, in Italy's southern heel, firefighters said. A nearby seaside resort was evacuated due to the choking smoke and the coastal road heading south from Otranto was closed to traffic.
Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Thursday (August 12) promised financial help for communities hit by the fires, and a plan of action to replant forest areas and make the Italian countryside more resilient to natural disasters.
(Production: Antonio Denti, Fabiano Franchitti, Emily Roe) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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