1,500 people left their home within 36 hours, the fire that started between Bonarcado and Santu Lussurgiu went on and engulfed Montiferru and part of the Planargia
ORISTANO. Almost 1500 displaced people, over 20 thousand hectares of land, woods, olive groves and cultivated fields reduced to ashes, farms devastated, houses damaged. The balance of the gigantic fire that broke out in Montiferru, in the Oristano area, is very heavy. It has not yet been possible to make a precise estimate given that the fire, after traveling about 50 kilometers from the Oristanese to Ogliastra, has not yet been tamed and continues to threaten homes and businesses. The regional council, in the evening, approved the state of emergency, preparatory to the government’s request for a state of calamity. At work to try to fight the flames there are 7,500 men between the Forestry Corps, Firefighters, Civil Protection, volunteers, but also the Italian Red Cross, Carabinieri and State Police, seven Canadair flying, plus two arriving from France requested by the Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, 11 helicopters from the regional fleet, including the Super Puma, a fire brigade helicopter and an Army helicopter, but the situation is still very difficult. Almost 27 years have passed since the last fire that broke out in Montiferru: it was August 1994 when a fire, which was later arson, wiped out the woods of Seneghe, Bonarcado, Cuglieri, Santu Lussurgiu and Scano Montiferro. And it is in the same area, between Bonarcado and Santu Lussurgiu that the flames started on Saturday.
The high temperatures and the wind fueled the fire that spread quickly, first surrounding Santu Lussurgiu and then moving to Cuglieri. The small town was besieged by flames all night: 200 people displaced. With them also all the inhabitants of Sennariolo, 155 people, which is located a few kilometers away and where the citizens of Cuglieri had found refuge. At dawn the launches of water from the sky resumed, but after a slight respite, with the passing of the hours and with the increase in temperatures and the strength of the wind, the flames came back to life, transforming the whole area into hell . The fire front moved to Porto Alabe. The small town was surrounded by fire: 200 people turned away from home, including many tourists.
At the same time the strong sirocco wind rekindled the outbreaks also in Santu Lussurgiu, in the hamlet of San Leonardo: 50 families were expelled. The flames also reached Scano Montiferro, where some homes were evacuated and 400 people displaced, including guests of a facility for the elderly and Borore in Nuorese with thirty other families who were expelled. A continuous emergency, with the Civil Protection switchboards and firefighters stormed by citizens.
Operational meetings between the leaders of the forces working for the emergency took place throughout the day: the President of the Region himself, Christian Solinas, is in the operations room of the Civil Protection to coordinate and follow the operations. The governor has announced that he will write to President Draghi to ask the Government “for immediate economic support to repair the damage and that a share of the PNRR is immediately destined for the Region for a major reforestation project. The regional council also met with all the mayors of the affected areas and approved the state of emergency. “It is not yet possible to estimate the damage caused by the fires – said the president of the Region – but it is an unprecedented disaster”. In the gigantic fire of 1994, 12 thousand hectares of land had gone up in smoke in the Montiferru and even the millennial olive tree “Sa Tanca Manna”, symbol of Cuglieri, was saved. Today the fury of the fire has already wiped out double the territory and also that tree with 2000 years of history. (Handle).