Fire forces evacuations in Rome as large parts of Europe burns

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A large fire broke out in Rome on Wednesday on a hill near the Italian capital’s court of justice and a public TV broadcasting centre, forcing the evacuation of several buildings and offices, firefighters said.

The fire in the Monte Mario area was under control, with 10 crews on the case, the national fire department said on X, posting a video showing helicopters and fire engines, and a few burnt out parked cars.

“As things stand, I think we still have a lot of work to do,” to put out the fire, the head of Rome’s firefighters, Adriano De Acutis, told RAI public television.

RAI’s broadcasting centre was evacuated, as well as a space observatory and six residential buildings, officials said. There were no reported injuries. RAI was also forced to cancel an afternoon live show.

“We are evacuating the studio,” one of the show’s presenters, Nunzia De Girolamo, said in an Instagram video. “The fire in Monte Mario is serious, we will see you tomorrow,” she added.

In a daily bulletin published earlier on Wednesday, the regional office of the civil protection had warned of high risk of fires in Rome due to extreme temperatures, which in the afternoon were higher than 35 degrees Celsius.

Climate change is making wildfires more frequent, a European Commission report said in April, adding that the 2023 wildfire season in the Europe was among the worst this century.

As summer progresses, wildfires are becoming more frequent across the Mediterranean region, including in Spain, Greece and the Balkans. It comes as tourists look to fly out on their summer holidays to these countries.

Hundreds of firefighters backed up by waterbomber aircraft sought to contain two wildfires that raged since Tuesday in eastern Spain.

European Union’s European Forest Fire Information System currently has a high risk of fire across much of Southern Europe.

Last week UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for countries to address the urgency of the extreme heat epidemic, fueled by climate change - days after the world registered its hottest day on record.

“Extreme heat is the new abnormal,” Guterres said. “The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures,” he said.