It’s already a fire emergency: damage to the forest heritage in the Alto Jonio Cosentino

TREBISACCE. We are still in mid-April and in the Upper Ionian Cosenza area, thanks to the anomalous heat and the strong west wind, there is already a fire emergency.

The fire in fact made its devastating debut on the afternoon of Monday 15 April near the gorge of the Saraceno stream, on the borders between the municipal territories of Trebisacce, Villapiana and Plataci where the fire would have started. The fire then raged for over 24 hours, causing enormous damage to the woodland heritage and closely threatening olive groves and inhabited farms.

At the time, from what was known, the Castrovillari Fire Brigade together with the Fire Brigade tried to contain the flames. FF. Volunteers from the Trebisacce Detachment and the Calabria Verde firefighting teams who, under the command of the DOS (extinguishing operations director) of Calabria Verde and operating with the usual professionalism, despite the logistical difficulties represented by the inaccessibility of the area, managed to contain the damage and apparently put out the flames.

But at the first light of dawn a strong west wind began to blow which ended up rekindling the fire that was smoldering under the ashes and which, with the favorable wind, regained strength again. In fact, the flames, from the bed of the Saraceno stream, always driven by the wind, began to rise towards the Sellata area (a very popular location for mushroom researchers) and towards Monte Mostarico, sending what remains of the woodland heritage of that area to ashes. after the numerous fires of recent years, destroying dozens and dozens of hectares of natural vegetation made up of Aleppo pines and lush Mediterranean scrub.

But, fortunately, at 11.30, coming from Lamezia Terme, two fire-fighting Canadairs appeared in the area, engaged in other fire-fighting interventions in Calabria, which, shuttling between the sea and the affected area, with powerful launches of salt water have tamed and brought to reason the fire that was threatening olive groves and inhabited farms in what was the first fire of a season which, judging by the premises, promises to be quite hot and complicated.

Pino La Rocca