"Huge forest fire" broke out on Lake Garda - flames rage above a popular holiday resort
Created: 07/17/2022 05:03
By: Patrick Mayer
Forest fire on Lake Garda: Flames rage over Nago-Torbole near Riva del Garda in the north of the holiday destination.
© Screenshot Facebook/Fire Brigade Nago-Torbole
Forest fires break out in several areas of Italy due to heat and drought.
There is also a fire at Lake Garda.
The fire brigade fights doggedly against the flames.
Munich/Riva del Garda – Until 1919, the holiday destination on Lake Garda was part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Austria-Hungary as a health resort.
The streets and buildings in the small Italian town are correspondingly sophisticated.
Because of its strong winds, Riva del Garda in the Trentino-Alto Adige region is now particularly popular with windsurfers.
But those strong winds are now causing a major problem after weeks of persistent heat, drought and dryness in northern Italy.
Holiday destination Lake Garda: "Huge forest fire" above Nago-Torbole near Riva del Garda
Because: On Sunday (July 10th) a "huge forest fire" broke out on the north shore of Lake Garda above Nago-Torbole, according to the fire brigade of the 3000-inhabitant town on Facebook.
Riva del Garda, with its 13,000 inhabitants and many holidaymakers, especially from Bavaria and the greater Munich area, is just five kilometers to the west.
Both fire brigades have joined forces in the fight against the flames and have been fighting the fires that have been flaring up again and again for days.
According to authorities from Nago-Torbole, 60 volunteer firefighters from the region are involved in the operation.
As the local fire department writes on Facebook, the firebreak on the slopes above the lake was three kilometers wide at times.
On social media, the firefighters posted spectacular photos of the fires that keep them tied.
In the video: Fire brigades fight against forest fires on Lake Garda near Riva del Garda
The fire brigades of both towns also posted a video of the risky helicopter mission above the lake.
According to this, two helicopters have been requested to take water from Lake Garda in huge sacks and circle at low altitude over the slopes to drain the water over the forest fires.
Drought and heat in Italy: Regions between Lombardy and Veneto are groaning under drought
The north of Italy between Lombardy and Veneto has been groaning under a decades-long drought and persistent drought since May.
In some areas it has not rained for more than 15 weeks, and the 652-kilometer-long Po River has already dried up in many places.
Since the middle of the week, water has even been pumped out of Lake Garda between Riva del Garda, Bardolino and Sirmione to counteract the emergency situation, after the hotel association and the association of municipalities on Lake Garda had long resisted.
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Fighting a large forest fire: The fire brigades of northern Lake Garda are currently in continuous operation.
© Screenshot Facebook / Vigili del Fuoco Riva del Garda
Forest fires are not only reported from Italy from Lake Garda.
In the middle of the metropolis of Rome, fires have been breaking out again and again in the Pineta Sacchetti pine forest near the Vatican for the past week.
There is an increased forest fire warning level on the holiday islands of Sicily and Sardinia.
Fire brigades are also fighting a forest fire on a hill that is difficult to access on the border between the regions of Tuscany and Liguria.
Water in Northern Italy: Low probability of rain between Lake Garda and Rome
The remedy would be rain everywhere in Italy.
After all: According to wetter.com
, a probability of rain of at least 30 percent is predicted for Riva del Garda for the weekend
– with persistently high temperatures of up to 34 degrees.
In Rome, the probability of rain only increases to 25 percent on Sunday (July 17), but then decreases again immediately.
In the capital, with its around 2.9 million inhabitants, temperatures are expected to settle at 37 degrees during the day.
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