Italian firefighters and the military on Sunday tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, with all mountain climbing routes up the volcano close to Naples closed to vacationers.
The nationwide hearth service stated it had 12 groups on the bottom and 6 Canadair planes combating the blaze, which has torn by the nationwide park in southern Italy since Friday. The park the place a volcanic eruption buried the traditional metropolis of Pompeii in 79 A.D. is a significant vacationer vacation spot.
“The fire-fighting continues ceaselessly on three fronts”, the Campania Area stated in a press release.
Authorities stated the fires are largely on the slopes of the Mount Somma facet of Vesuvius, which is characterised by its dense vegetation.
A vacationer seems to be on the smoke of an enormous hearth on Vesuvius Volcano showing like an eruption. The fireplace has began throughout the evening involving the woods of the Vesuvius Nationwide Park.
Salvatore Laporta/KONTROLAB/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs
The military created a fireplace break and reinforcement firefighters had been introduced in from different areas of Italy, whereas onsite groups used drones to higher monitor the unfold of the hearth, the area and hearth service stated.
The smoke from the hearth could possibly be seen from the Pompeii archeological website, which was buried by Vesuvius’ eruption throughout Roman occasions. The positioning, nonetheless, remained open to vacationers.
The park’s head, Raffaele de Luca, stated the world affected coated some 500 hectares, or over 1,235 acres.
“For safety reasons and to facilitate firefighting and cleanup operations in the affected areas, all activities along the Vesuvius National Park trail network are suspended until further notice,” the park stated in a press release Saturday.
Almost 620,000 individuals visited the crater of the energetic volcano in 2024, in line with the park.
Folks watch the flames and smoke rising from a wildfire that breaks out on the Vesuvius Nationwide Park in Terzigno, a commune in Naples, Italy on August 8, 2025.
Eliano Imperato/Anadolu by way of Getty Photographs
Specialists say European nations have gotten ever extra susceptible to wildfires resulting from intensifying summer season heatwaves linked to international warming. Components of the continent had recorded its hottest June in current historical past.
The abnormally sizzling climate uncovered tens of millions of Europeans to excessive warmth stress with temperatures in June extra typical of July and August, stated Samantha Burgess of the European Middle for Medium-Vary Climate Forecasts.
Final week, France battled what authorities known as the nation’s largest wildfire in many years. About 1,400 firefighters had been deployed Saturday in France’s southern Aude area to stop it from reigniting, the Related Press reported. Excessive temperatures within the coming days are anticipated to complicate firefighters’ efforts.
On Mount Vesuvius, “the firefighting efforts are particularly delicate due to both the weather conditions — high temperatures and wind — and the pine needles, which contribute to the spread of the flames,” stated Italo Giulivo, head of the area’s civil safety division.
Italy’s greatest agricultural affiliation, Coldiretti, stated the fires had been “an enormous disaster” for vineyards and farms in an space well-known for its wine, apricots and tomatoes.
The native prosecutors’ workplace has opened an investigation into the origin of the fires.
Extra from CBS Information
