Emergencies
Every year the entire peninsular is involved by the fire phenomenon, however the regions at highest exposure are concentrated in the south and on the islands, especially during the summer months, when the weather conditions create more favourable conditions for fires and relevant propagation.
Summer 2007
The summer of 2007 is remembered as one of the most disastrous forest fires, not only in Italy but also in other Mediterranean countries like Greece and Albania. 900 thousand hectares of the European territory have been hit by fire, leaving behind victims and serious structural damage to properties, environmental and cultural heritage of many countries. Only in Greece fire affected an area of 250 thousand hectares, causing the loss of more than 60 lives and injuring many, and the destruction of entire villages, forests and vast areas of the Mediterranean woods.
The European Civil Protection Mechanism was activated twelve times during the emergency period that lasted over ten weeks and involved Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Albania and Macedonia. Requests for help have had an immediate response and through the mechanism, various Member States, including Italy, France, Spain and Greece have provided assistance. The support has been limited in part because those countries were struggling with the forest fires raging in Italy or at least exposed to high risk.
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