At the end of last July, the news of the gigantic fires that devastated the Montiferru deeply affected the Sardinians. In those days we talked about nothing else. Also, of course, on social media. Where to tell the drama of those twelve thousand hectares of raped territory were often the images of the flames that devoured the woods and came to threaten people and houses from close up.
One photograph among others seems to have taken on the role of a symbol of the event: it shows a fireball, a reddish wall in front of which a man stands: framed from behind, wearing a dark t-shirt and, in a gesture of anger and despair, put your hands to your head. A powerful, effective image that moved many. Many have shared it, not only simple users of social networks but also blogs, information sites and newspapers, and many have commented, shaken by the emotions that that photo arouses: that man strongly represents the anger and despair of those who they found themselves counting dead cattle, destroyed crops, memories and efforts reduced to smoke.
Too bad that that photo was not taken in Montiferru and not even last July, but in another July: that of four years ago.
This is told by the author of that photo, whose name is Angelo Cucca, he was born in Iglesias 58 years ago and is a professional photographer whose images have been published for a long time by L'Unione Sarda. And p roprio on behalf of the newspaper on 9 July 2017 Angelo Cucca was in the countryside of Villamassargia to document the umpteenth day of fire experienced by our island. The right person in the right place: not only a capable photographer, but a fire expert, since for several years he worked as a volunteer in the firefighting teams of Villamassargia, Iglesias and Siliqua.
It was a Sunday afternoon, Cucca says, and in the previous days there had been small fires in the whole area. The situation was serious: along the provincial road leading to Domusnovas and Musei, five fires broke out, triggered in five different points, probably by someone who had driven that road, making several stops to set the fire. Around 3 pm the flames, fueled by the wind, were at their maximum strength. The Villamassargia railway station was shrouded in smoke, the fire threatened several sheepfolds from near, in Domusnovas the population had poured into the streets armed with buckets and hoes in an attempt to stem the flames: some gardens were burned. The Iglesiente photographer remembers seeing people spraying water with garden pumps, a man who risked his life to save his dogs.
