Monte Barone Yangını Dokuzuncu Gününde: 1000 Hektar Alan Küle Döndü

1,000 hectares burned as Mt Barone wildfire enters ninth day

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - Around 1,000 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke due to a wildfire that has been raging for nine days on Monte Barone, a mountain in the Alps near Biella. The flames were spreading downhill on Wednesday and there was concern for the Monte Barone mountain shelter, which was surrounded by the blaze and may have sustained damage. The fire has a front spanning nine kilometres. "We are closely monitoring the forest fire raging on Monte Barone, in the province of Biella," said Environment and Energy Security Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin. "I want to express my solidarity with the affected communities and thank all the men and women involved in the operations to combat the fire and make the area safe. "The fire containment effort has been conducted both from the ground and with the support of airborne resources, which have carried out over 120 water launches in the areas most affected by the fire". While wildfires are nothing new, scientists say they are becoming more frequent and more devastating because of stronger and longer heatwaves and droughts linked to the climate crisis. The WWF said in a report last week that around 70,000 hectares have burned in Italy because of wildfires so far this summer, an area equivalent to roughly 100,000 soccer fields. It said this was a 133% increase over the average of the past two decades. The situation is even worse in other parts of Europe: 219,000 hectares have already burned in Spain and 91,000 in France, resulting in dozens of casualties and forcing over 300,000 people to temporarily evacuate their homes. Recent studies have demonstrated that climate change caused by human greenhouse gas emissions made the extreme weather that fuelled the recent wildfires in France at least twice as likely and those in Spain at least 20 times more likely. photo: an archive image of fire-fighters battling a blaze in Abruzzo. (ANSA). Read article...