A sick man of flames and tourists fleeing beaches and villages, especially in south-eastern Sardinia. Dozens of fires, very arson, fueled by a furious mistral wind (gusts over 80 km), a lot of fear, but there are no injuries, even if the fires have licked houses and devastated farms. The most affected area is Sarrabus: Muravera, Costa Rei, Porto Corallo, Feraxi, San Priamo, Villaputzu and further inland Gairo. But the fire did not spare the Cagliari hinterland, in Assemini and Capoterra, and the Sulcis Iglesiente.
A day of red alert, announced by the civil protection with bulletins and warnings that since Friday called for maximum precaution. Dozens of requests for intervention, the regional fleet of helicopters, the Canadair based in Olbia, dozens of mobilized fire and forestry teams. The most critical situation in Costa Rei and around Muravera.
More than 250 guests were evacuated from the Eos village, the flames reached as far as the beach and set fire to some umbrellas. “When the smoke got closer, they made us get ready in a hurry – says a lady who had been on vacation for a few days – they gathered us on the beach, a dozen rubber boats were ready and they transferred us to a nearby hotel”. Other tourists arriving at the Suneva resort were unable to proceed, the road was blocked in several places and they were held up as a precaution at the Costa Rei hotel.
– The flames in Muravera around 3.50pm
“Fire? Someone set it up”
“There is little doubt that they are arson – says the mayor Salvatore Piu – someone set the fire on Saturday evening and did it on purpose, knowing that at night the aircraft could not intervene”. The regional environment councilor Marco Porcu confirms: “It was some criminals and they struck right at the most critical moment, taking advantage of the darkness”. Throughout the night the teams on the ground tried to hold off the advance. In the morning, Canadair and helicopters managed to put it out and were about to complete the water drops for reclamation, when the flames started again shortly after 1 pm. In Gairo, Mount Truncone was incinerated. Mayor Sergio Lorrai is furious: «Here too the fire was started. They have endangered the lives of many people, we will look for them everywhere, we will have no mercy”.
In the Muravera countryside, about fifty people had to hastily abandon three farmhouses. 5 farms were destroyed, with more than a thousand citrus trees and sheds for housing livestock. In Cagliari flames also on the Poetto beach, on the outskirts of the city: a campsite evacuated, early warning in a dozen villas. In Capoterra the flames licked a rest home. In the late afternoon tongues of fire also arose between Siniscola and Posada, south of Olbia (there would be at least 600 evacuees from the area): a fire that got bigger, forced Anas to close the Eastern Sardinian state road and is approaching to places where tens of thousands of tourists stay. The civil protection has mobilized a large part of the air fleet, 7 Canadairs operate in Sardinia.