An impressive column of smoke dominates the Gulf of Naples, it would seem one of those eruptions shown in the paintings, but it is yet another fire that devastates the South within a few days.
To date there have been more than 1300 interventions by firefighters in Puglia, Calabria, Basilicata and Sicily. This time the Vesuvian towns are the protagonists: Ercolano, Terzigno, Ottaviano up to Torre Annunziata. The prefect of Naples, Carmela Pagano, has summoned the mayors of the various countries.
Most of the mayors talk about organized crime, the pursuit of economic interests behind the fires and ask for the Government's attention. Yet another arson, generated not by any arsonist, but by an expert connoisseur of the mountains, which made it impossible for the firefighters to intervene.
The criminal strategy envisaged eight different triggers, which started simultaneously in areas that were difficult to reach and for which real carnage was carried out: several animals, probably cats, were doused in petrol and set on fire. In an attempt to escape they reached the thickest bush where it is impossible to intervene. The prosecutor has opened an investigation into arson, for now against unknown persons.
A 2 km fire that saw the commitment of over 600 men including personnel from the Civil Protection, Sma Campania, firefighters, forest carabinieri and volunteers. All regional helicopters were used and support from national air assets was requested.
Closed all access to Vesuvius, evacuated houses and restaurants. The "Le mimose" residence, where the prefecture had temporarily accommodated about forty migrants, was also evicted. The solidarity of Neapolitan citizens is invoked for 750 dogs that risk being overwhelmed by the fires.
The most critical situation is that of the Vesuvius area where the two fires that had developed simultaneously in Herculaneum and Ottaviano have joined, generating 100 active fires that have crossed Italy, reaching Salento.
An improvement can be found in the area of the Vesuvian observatory, which however remains manned.
The comments of the current mayor and of the former mayor of Naples are touching. According to De Magistris, the time has come for the country to start investing in prevention, rather than in banks and military spending. Fires of this kind require immediate action, and that of Vesuvius is a painful wound that affects all Neapolitans.
Bassolino comments via facebook post “Not an eruption, but the opposite. It is men who set Vesuvius on fire and the gap between the drama and the interventions implemented is too great.”
