The Gargano is burning again, with flames encroaching on the beaches and memories inevitably turning to the dramatic images of the tragic fire of 2007. As happened then, hundreds of terrified tourists were evacuated by boat. In the very same stretch of coastline, near Peschici, a hellish blaze broke out, destroying entire swathes of territory.
The flames, driven by strong winds, first spread through a rural area called Pile Fraballe, where hectares of Mediterranean scrubland and Aleppo pines went up in smoke, before moving downhill toward the coast, from Difesa di Manaccora to Baia Zaiana, spreading panic among tourists at the many campsites located along the coastal strip between Peschici and Vieste. In the rural area there are around ten homes that were not touched by the flames, while many tourists and beachgoers abandoned the beaches and boarded vessels — six Coast Guard craft, three belonging to the Guardia di Finanza, as well as around ten private boats — to reach the nearby port of Vieste, where the local council set up municipal gathering points to provide assistance and shelter.
"Around 400 tourists have reached Vieste — about a hundred aboard the boats, others independently by car, and others still by Gargano Railways buses," said Mayor Giuseppe Nobiletti. "They are currently being housed in the gymnasiums of two schools, but it is likely that some may soon be able to return to the holiday villages, as the flames have shifted." According to the Mayor of Peschici, Luigi d'Arenzo, the fires that broke out in his town's coastal pine forests are "deliberate, not least because they were started in multiple locations."
"The Gargano is reliving a nightmare it already experienced in 2007. A vast fire is destroying the pine forest that had been growing back over these past 20 years, between Peschici and Vieste," said Vincenzo Scarcia Germano, president of Gargano Railways, who made buses available to transport the evacuated tourists. The fire is still ongoing and is being closely monitored by the emergency response services, which were promptly mobilised, with continuous oversight from the Prefecture and the regional Civil Protection agency. Firefighters have been on the scene for hours with tanker trucks, aerial equipment and two Canadair aircraft carrying out repeated water drops to try to halt the fire front. The blaze has forced the suspension of traffic on several provincial and state roads, including the Vieste–Peschici coastal road and, in the territory of Cagnano Varano, a stretch of the state road known as the 'Dei Laghi di Lesina e Varano.'
In Lower Molise, rail services have also been halted. There too, a large fire has caused disruption and fear, with evacuations and difficulties. Between Termoli and Campomarino, on the Pescara–Foggia line, the flames reached the railway tracks, resulting in cancelled trains or severe delays on the Adriatic line. Here, on the border with the fire-stricken Gargano area of Puglia, tourists were evacuated from campsites and beach establishments. In Campomarino, 21 elderly residents from the Villa San Gerardo care home were transferred to the premises of the Church of Santo Spirito, thanks to the generosity of the parish priest. In the afternoon, the fire then reached a hotel on the seafront where, fortunately, no one was present as the building is closed and undergoing renovation.
A Canadair, after carrying out several drops on the fire front close to the campsites and beach facilities, managed to contain the advance of the blaze. "My land is burning, from the Gargano all the way down to lower Molise - wrote M5s leader Giuseppe Conte, who is originally from the province of Foggia, on social media -. It is deeply painful to see places close to my heart in flames", pledging commitment "at all levels to ensure that all necessary efforts are deployed swiftly, so that no one is left alone in the face of this disaster".
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