Fire at Vesuvius: Four Canadairs in action today

Roma – Four Canadairs are still at work to tame the flames that have been devastating the Vesuvius National Park for days, while the national fire toll continues to worsen. The Department of Civil Protection has announced that 25 requests for air intervention were received today from seven regions, with Lazio, Campania and Calabria in the lead (6 requests each), followed by Sicily (3), Sardinia (2), Basilicata and Abruzzo (1).

Fight relentlessly
Thanks to the combined efforts of air forces and ground teams, nine fires have been extinguished or brought under control, but operations will continue as long as daylight permits. "Water and retardant drops will continue until safety is reached," an official statement confirmed.

Record numbers
The data provided by the Fire Department paints a dramatic picture of a summer: 45.005 interventions for forest and vegetation fires from June 15 to August 12, an increase of 6.780 cases compared to the same period in 2024. A total of 200.748 firefighters were deployed, supported by 74.834 vehicles and 67.146 man-hours. The air fleet conducted 1.735 missions with 13.660 drops of extinguishing substances.

The most affected regions
Puglia holds the sad record with 9.761 interventions, followed by Sicily (8.286), Campania (5.461), Lazio (5.265), and Calabria (4.860). On Vesuvius, where flames threaten the ecosystem and surrounding communities, the battle is still ongoing.