Sardinia wildfire in Ogliastra forces evacuation of psychiatric care home residents. The fire front later shifts towards neighbouring Elini.
A wildfire that broke out in woodland above Arzana, in Sardinia‘s Ogliastra area, has continued to spread, prompting evacuations in a second nearby town as firefighting crews worked through the night to contain the blaze.
Over a hundred evacuated in Arzana
The fire, which ignited on Friday afternoon in the Riu Sicaderba area close to the SS389 Nuoro-Lanusei road, was driven rapidly outward by strong winds. It reached the outskirts of Arzana, threatening both homes and land of environmental value.
Mayor Angelo Stochino ordered the evacuation of more than a hundred people, including 60 residents of Ahora, a protected facility caring for psychiatric patients on the edge of town. Those residents were transferred to the same care provider’s facilities in Gairo and Villanova to allow firefighting operations to proceed safely. Residents of scattered rural houses and some households on the town’s outskirts were also moved out.
“The situation is dramatic,” Stochino told the ANSA news agency, adding that three Canadair water bombers — one requested at short notice — along with army and air force Super Puma helicopters and three light helicopters from the regional fleet, were deployed to the scene.
Fire front shifts towards Elini
As the Sardinia wildfire progressed, it spread into the territory of the neighbouring municipality of Elini, sending a thick pall of smoke over the area. Elini’s mayor, Vitale Pili, subsequently ordered the evacuation of ten homes on the edge of that town as a precaution, with around thirty residents moved out because of dense smoke from the fire spreading across the surrounding countryside.
Forestry corps and civil protection teams, supported by firefighters, volunteers and law enforcement, worked to contain the fire front, backed by a substantial aerial firefighting effort totalling eight aircraft. As of the latest reports, no injuries or structural damage had been recorded on the Arzana front, though some livestock had to be rescued from farm buildings in the area. Emergency teams remained on site working to bring the blaze fully under control.
