Tuscany wildfire displaces 3,000 before being contained

The wildfire on Monte Faeta, between Lucca and Pisa, is now in the clean-up phase after burning about 700 hectares and forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents. San Giuliano Terme says it will ask Tuscany Region to declare a state of natural disaster. 

What began on April 28 as a woodland fire in a steep, hard-to-reach area near Capannori and Lucca became, within days, one of Tuscany’s most serious recent wildfires, reaching the Pisa side of the mountain and threatening homes around Asciano, a village in the municipality of San Giuliano Terme.

By May 3, Tuscany Region said the fire front had been stopped. The burned perimeter stretches for about 20 kilometres and covers roughly 700 hectares. Seventeen volunteer forest-fire teams, forestry workers and regional fire directors remained on site to extinguish residual hotspots, with a regional helicopter supporting the ground crews. 

From local woodland fire to regional emergency

The fire broke out on April 28 on the Lucca side of Monte Faeta, in an area covered by pine trees and Mediterranean scrub. The terrain was difficult to access by road, forcing the regional forest-fire system to rely from the beginning on helicopters and ground teams.

At first, the absence of strong wind appeared to offer a chance to contain the fire before evening. But over the following two days the situation worsened. Dry vegetation and grecale, the north-easterly wind, pushed the flames across the mountain and made aerial operations difficult.

By April 30, Canadair aircraft from the national fleet had joined the response. The fire had already affected around 70 hectares, while smoke and firefighting aircraft led Toscana Aeroporti, the company managing Pisa and Florence airports, to warn of possible delays at Pisa airport.

Thousands evacuated near Pisa

The turning point came when the fire reached the Pisa side, threatening Asciano, near San Giuliano Terme. Around 300 people were first evacuated as a precaution. During the night between April 30 and May 1, the evacuation order was expanded to about 3,500 people as wind drove the flames closer to inhabited areas.

Residents in San Giuliano Terme, Vecchiano and Pisa were also advised to keep windows closed and avoid outdoor activity because smoke could move down into populated areas.

Most evacuees were later allowed to return home as conditions improved. About 400 people initially remained displaced on the Pisa side, while on the Lucca side around 120 residents of Santa Maria del Giudice were still unable to return on May 2.

Damage and investigation

The fire damaged homes, including one house that was left seriously damaged and unfit for use in the San Giuliano Terme area. Other homes were affected more lightly.

Two gardeners from Lucca are under investigation for aggravated negligent forest fire. According to the Carabinieri Forestali, Italy’s forestry police, the fire may have started when pruning waste from an olive grove was burned near woodland in Santa Maria del Giudice and the flames spread out of control.

What happens now

San Giuliano Terme says it will ask Tuscany Region for a state of natural disaster so that work can begin on securing the burned slopes, reducing hydrogeological risk and planning reforestation. The municipality says about 420 hectares burned in its territory alone, especially above Asciano. 

Tuscany Region has also renewed its warning that burning agricultural and garden waste is banned when there is wind, because embers can quickly trigger new fires in dry vegetation.

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