The initial damage estimate from the fire that hit the forest between Arzana and Elini , in Ogliastra, last night, putting residential areas at serious risk, amounts to approximately 200 hectares of burned land.

Ground firefighting operations continued throughout the night. Firefighters from the Nuoro provincial command worked tirelessly to protect the sheepfolds and homes in Arzana and Elini. More than 40 interventions were carried out. This morning, three Canadair aircraft from the national fleet and Forestry Corps helicopters were still working to keep the fire at bay.

"The greatest fear," says Arzana Mayor Angelo Stochino , "was from 1:00 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.: unfortunately, neither Civil Protection nor Forestas were there (planes and helicopters don't fly at night), so the firefighters and civil protection volunteers from Arzana and Gairo were left to deal with the fire. We found ourselves alone, facing walls of fire that were pushing toward the town. At 6:00 a.m., the Forestas teams arrived to clear the area, and we saw some light."

There is also concern for two residents of the Ahora center in Arzana, the protected facility for vulnerable patients that was evacuated yesterday. They were hospitalized. They had been transferred, along with 28 other residents from the community, to the Villa Selene hotel. The two felt ill, perhaps due to smoke inhalation; they are not in serious condition. The other patients are still in the hotel waiting for conditions to be restored before returning to the Ahora center.

Among the extensive damages was that to a sawmill, worth approximately €800,000, the mayor recalls. "Along with all the forestry assets," he adds, "a stable, a tool shed, barns, fodder supplies, and diesel fuel—these were the other expenses. There was also significant damage to municipal equipment."

In Elini, Mayor Vitale Pili and the administration spoke on social media of a "community that is facing the painful consequences of the heavy damage inflicted on its natural heritage and the territory."

"Faced with such a devastating event, the municipal administration," a statement reads, "expresses its strongest condemnation of criminal acts that endanger public safety and seriously harm the environment in which we live."

(Unioneonline/AD)

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