By
Anna Scipioni,
Bernardo Gabellini,
Franco
Caldari
& Roberto Cavalensi
State Forestry Corps,
Forest Fire Protection Service
and Statistics Office,
Rome, Italy
Introduction
This report has been compiled by the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) based on a publication by Scipioni et al. (1999) which covers the fire situation in Italy in the extreme fire year 1998. Recent (1999 and 2000) and long-term fire data provided by Leone (2000) have been added to Table 4-12 and Table 4-13.
The 1998 Fire Season
Between 1 January and 31 December 1998 9 450 forest fires occurred in Italy, burning a total area of 155 553 ha (73 017 ha wooded and 82 536 ha non-wooded).
Compared to 1997, forest fires worsened greatly, not so much in terms of the number of fires but more in terms of the area burned. The area burned in 1998 was 60 percent higher than the average of the last ten years. The total area affected by forest fires was three times that of 1995 and 1996, despite the increase in defence capabilities. This increase depended largely on the weather conditions. In fact, the summer was the hottest and muggiest of the last six centuries. Compared to the same period, the wooded area affected by fires increased by four times during 1998.
Fire statistics for the 1980s and 1990s are given in Table 4-12 and Table 4-13. In the fire season 2000 more than 10 000 fires burned close to 100 000 ha of forest and other land (Leone 2000).
Table 4-12 Wildfire database for Italy, 1980-1989.
Year |
Total No. of Fires on Forest, Other Wooded Land, & Other Land No. |
Total Area Burned on Forest, Other Wooded Land, & Other Land ha |
Area of Forest Burned ha |
Area of Other Wooded Land and Other Land Burned ha |
Human Causes No. |
Natural Causes No. |
Unknown Causes No. |
1980 |
11 963 |
143 919 |
45 838 |
98 081 |
|||
1981 |
14 503 |
229 850 |
74 287 |
155 563 |
|||
1982 |
9 557 |
130 456 |
48 832 |
81 624 |
|||
1983 |
7 956 |
212 678 |
78 938 |
133 740 |
|||
1984 |
8 482 |
75 272 |
31 077 |
44 195 |
|||
1985 |
18 664 |
190 640 |
76 548 |
114 092 |
|||
1986 |
9 398 |
86 420 |
26 795 |
59 625 |
|||
1987 |
11 972 |
120 697 |
46 040 |
74 657 |
|||
1988 |
13 588 |
186 405 |
60 109 |
126 296 |
|||
1989 |
9 669 |
95 161 |
45 933 |
49 228 |
|||
Average |
11 575 |
147 150 |
53 440 |
93 710 |
Source: Corpo Forestale dello Stato
Table 4-13 Wildfire database for Italy, 1990-1999.
Year |
Total No. of Fires on Forest, Other Wooded Land & Other Land No. |
Total Area Burned on Forest, Other Wooded Land, & Other Land ha |
Area of Forest Burned ha |
Area of Other Wooded Land and Other Land Burned ha |
Human Causes No. |
Natural Causes No. |
Unknown Causes No. |
1990 |
14 477 |
195 319 |
98 410 |
96 909 |
|||
1991 |
11 965 |
99 860 |
30 172 |
69 688 |
|||
1992 |
14 641 |
105 692 |
44 522 |
61 170 |
|||
1993 |
14 412 |
203 749 |
116 378 |
87 371 |
|||
1994 |
11 588 |
136 334 |
47 099 |
89 235 |
|||
1995 |
7 378 |
48 884 |
20 995 |
27 889 |
|||
1996 |
9 093 |
57 988 |
20 329 |
37 659 |
|||
1997 |
11 612 |
111 230 |
62 775 |
48 455 |
|||
1998 |
9 540 |
155 553 |
73 017 |
82 536 |
|||
1999 |
6 932 |
71 117 |
39 362 |
31 755 |
|||
Average |
11 1163 |
118 576 |
55 305 |
63 266 |
Source: Corpo Forestale dello Stato
What is alarming about theses statistic is the average area per fire, which went from 9.6 ha per fire in 1997 to 16.3 ha per fire in 1998. Extending the observation period from January to December, the Regions most affected in terms of the areas affected by fire are consistently Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia. In Calabria, each fire burned an average of 49.2 ha, in Sicily 40 ha and in Abruzzo 32.2 ha, values clearly over the national average registered in the past 10 years.
Forest fires in the last decade have taken on a specific characteristic in terms of time and space, affecting the regions of Southern Italy and the Tyrrhenian Coast mainly during the summer, and the Alpine regions in the winter. Also, in 1998 climate influenced the winter fires: wind and a lack of precipitation made the vegetation prone to fire.
Figure 4-4 Long-term fire statistics of Italy for the period 1970-1998.
Annual number of fires (upper), area affected by fire (middle) and average area burned per fire (lower).
Table 4-14 Forest fires in 1998 in Italy by Region.
Regions |
Number of fires |
Area burned by fire | ||
Wooded(ha) |
Non-wooded(ha) |
Total (ha) | ||
Piedmont |
459 |
2 096 |
2 224 |
4 320 |
Aosta Valley |
17 |
51 |
13 |
64 |
Lombardy |
455 |
3 320 |
1 430 |
4 750 |
Trentino A. A. |
102 |
148 |
34 |
182 |
Veneto |
101 |
454 |
235 |
689 |
Friuli V. G. |
118 |
401 |
264 |
665 |
Liguria |
499 |
3 879 |
2 118 |
5 997 |
Emilia Romagna |
207 |
855 |
622 |
1 477 |
Tuscany |
567 |
3 640 |
1 040 |
4 680 |
Umbria |
138 |
608 |
346 |
954 |
Marches |
83 |
589 |
85 |
674 |
Latium |
439 |
2 746 |
2 218 |
4 964 |
Abruzzo |
77 |
1 407 |
1 069 |
2 476 |
Molise |
44 |
121 |
375 |
496 |
Campania |
533 |
2 150 |
1 564 |
3 714 |
Puglia |
345 |
2 424 |
1 858 |
4 282 |
Basilicata |
263 |
1 362 |
1 317 |
2 679 |
Calabria |
1062 |
17 446 |
26 537 |
43 983 |
Sicily |
894 |
16 543 |
19 243 |
35 786 |
Sardinia |
3 137 |
12 781 |
19 943 |
32 724 |
TOTAL |
9 540 |
73 017 |
82 536 |
155 553 |
Table 4-15 Numbers and area burned by forest fires in Italy in 1998 by month.
Month |
Number of fires |
Area burned by fire | ||
Wooded (ha) |
Non- |
Total (ha) | ||
January |
68 |
158 |
149 |
307 |
February |
647 |
2 717 |
2 746 |
5 463 |
March |
1 045 |
6 650 |
3 221 |
9 871 |
April |
240 |
930 |
209 |
1 139 |
May |
88 |
263 |
116 |
379 |
June |
874 |
9 448 |
9 852 |
19 300 |
July |
2 637 |
33 471 |
49 520 |
82 991 |
August |
2 469 |
15 459 |
11 601 |
27 060 |
September |
1 076 |
2 306 |
3 451 |
5 757 |
October |
117 |
658 |
293 |
951 |
November |
164 |
521 |
199 |
721 |
December |
115 |
436 |
1 179 |
1 615 |
Total |
9 540 |
73 017 |
82 536 |
155 553 |
Over the winter period of 1998 (January to March), 1 760 fires occurred, burning 15 641 ha (of which 9 525 ha was wooded). This was over ten percent of the wooded area that burned in the entire year of 1998. During the winter, the Regions most affected were, in decreasing order: Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Tuscany in terms of total burnt area.
In the summer period of 1998, characterised by prolonged drought, very high temperatures, strong winds and tourism mobility, fires were particularly serious: 6 182 fires occurred (65 percent of the annual total) burning a total area of 115 808 ha (74 percent of the annual total). Of the total area burned, 51 236 ha were wooded (70 percent of the annual total).
The Regions most affected were in decreasing order: Calabria, Sicily, and Sardinia, both for the total area burned and for the wooded areas burned. Again, Sardinia, Calabria and Sicily were the Regions that registered the largest number of fires in the summer period (Figure 4-5).
Most fires began on Sundays, confirming the trend of previous years. Highest damages are caused by fires larger than 100 ha. In 1998, such fires affected 54.2 percent of the wooded areas. More than half of all fires (52.1 percent) were fires smaller than one hectare.
Figure 4-5 Left: Areas at risk of forest fires in the first quarter (1989-1999 period). Right: Areas at risk of forest fires in the third quarter (1989-1999 period).
The worst fires of 1998 took place in winter time in Lombardy and Veneto, and in summer time in Calabria and Sicily. In all cases, the average area per fire was extremely high. In Calabria, 17 fires averaged over 1 500 ha in size.
Table 4-16 Number of fires greater than 100 ha affecting wooded land.
Regions |
Number of fires |
Average area burned per fire |
Piedmont |
2 |
370 |
Lombardy |
7 |
275 |
Friuli V.G. |
1 |
210 |
Liguria |
7 |
238 |
Emilia Romagna |
2 |
235 |
Tuscany |
5 |
376 |
Marches |
1 |
225 |
Latium |
2 |
174 |
Abruzzo |
2 |
615 |
Campania |
2 |
345 |
Puglia |
4 |
175 |
Calabria |
17 |
1 853 |
Sicily |
31 |
549 |
Sardinia |
20 |
827 |
Total |
103 |
730 |
The analysis of the percent of fires by the orographic type of territory shows that 61.9 percent of fires developed in the hillsides and 30.9 percent in the mountains (Table 4-17). The majority of fires developed at altitudes under 1 000 m a.s.l. Only 7.4 percent of all fires occurred at altitudes >1 000 m a.s.l.. Conditions of moderate or strong winds favoured the spread of 50.3 percent of fires, while conditions of very strong winds affected one percent of the fires.
Table 4-17 Percentage of wildfires by orographic type of terrain and by altitude in 1998.
Flat lands |
6.4 |
up to 500 m altitude |
53 |
Hillsides |
61.9 |
from 500 to 1000 m |
39.6 |
Mountains |
30.9 |
from 1 000 to 1500 m |
6.6 |
Mountain tops |
0.08 |
over 1 500 m |
0.8 |
Causes of Fires in 1998
The analysis of the causes of fires in 1998 confirms again the high incidence of human responsibility for the destruction of wooded areas affected by fires, as 76.3 percent of the fires were due to deliberate action (Table 4-18). The analysis of accidental causes in 1998 showed that most fires that occurred for these reasons were due to agricultural activity, followed by cigarettes and matches. All of these causes contributed significantly to the starting of fires. Recreational activities had a modest effect, confirming that civic responsibility is continuously increasing among citizens.
Table 4-18 Causes of fires in Italy, 1998.
Causes |
Percentage of the number of forest fires |
Percentage of the total area burned |
Natural |
1 |
0.3 |
Deliberate |
50.7 |
73.7 |
Accidental |
12.6 |
8.1 |
Unknown |
35.7 |
17.9 |
Fire Impacts
In order to put out fires in 1998, 155 752 interventions were necessary in all of Italy (excluding Sardinia), including forestry personnel, fire brigades, police, armed forces, workers and volunteers.
Unfortunately, fires took victims again in 1998. Six people, specifically one worker, one member of the police force, two citizens and two arsonists died in Piedmont, Emilia Romagna, Calabria and Sicily. Eighty-one people were injured, of which 34 were workers and volunteers, 12 were forestry personnel, 13 firemen, 14 from local organizations and 8 arsonists.
The global evaluation of damages in terms of wood destroyed and costs related to the restoration of forest cover amounted to approximately 90 billion lire, of which 60 billion lire for fires caused deliberately.
Fire Suppression
In 1998, the Unified Aircraft Operations Centre co-ordinated the use of aircraft for 1 400 fires, carrying out 2 787 missions for a total of 6 464 hours of flying time. The Aircraft Operations Centre of the State Forestry Corps, which has its own helicopters for firefighting, deploys 13 Breda Nardi NH500 helicopters and nine Agusta Bell 412. The helicopters of the State Forestry Corps operate both in preventive activities and in direct intervention on fires by dropping water from helibuckets. The helicopters of the State Forestry Corps are also used for the transportation of personnel and firefighting equipment. They are also used to coordinate work of other firefighting aircraft sent by the Unified Aircraft Operations Centre of the Civil Protection Forces. The helicopters of the State Forestry Corps are stationed at the main base of Roma–Urbe Airport. They are repositioned over the national territory in high risk periods to reduce as much as possible the time required to respond to fires.
Public policies
The government of Italy supports international cooperation:
• Activation of Resolution No. 3 of the Ministerial Conference of Strasbourg related to the protection of forests in Europe against fires (Strasbourg, 1990). The objective of this Resolution is to facilitate and encourage the exchange of information on forest fires as homogeneous as possible among the various signatory states, with the intention of jointly promoting and improving preventive measures.
• In the sphere of the activities of the ECE/FAO committee, concerning forestry statistics.
• In the Mediterranean basin, in the context of the work of the CFFSA/CEF/CFPO committee regarding Mediterranean forestry questions, "Silva Mediterranea" and the International Centre for Mediterranean Agronomic Studies.
Legal references in the forest fire sector are published by Scipioni et al. (1999).
References
Scipioni, A., Gabellini, B., Caldari, F. & Cavalensi, R. 1999. Forest fires in Italy 1998. Int. Forest Fire News 21: 60-70.
Leone, V. 2000. Italy: fires in summer 2000. Int. Forest Fire News 23 (in press)