LE CESINE (Vernole) – In the late evening the meeting of the Rescue Coordination Center, in the offices of the Lecce prefecture, for an urgent strategy against the huge fire that broke out in at least two distinct points in the naturalistic area of Le Cesine. Meanwhile, starting at 6am, all the fire brigade teams, together with the civil protection volunteers and the Arif staff (the regional agency for irrigation and forestry activities) returned to work.
The activities of the 115 aircraft also resumed: already yesterday it had been necessary to resort to the use of a Canadair, given the vastness of the fire and the rapid spread which affected a large portion of trees, forcing even the guests to two tourist facilities to move away as a precaution. The operations therefore resumed, under the coordination of the prefecture of the Salento capital, but the fire has not yet been completely put out. The men at work, after the complex activities, managed to create a safety belt to protect the most delicate green heart of the oasis.
Having started yesterday afternoon in at least two places, between the territories of Vernole and Melendugno, the fire is now also being monitored by the Lecce forestry police: they have in fact been entrusted with the investigations by the Lecce Public Prosecutor’s Office to reconstruct the nature of the episode and trace the possible authors. The penalties provided for in the case of forest fires have recently been tightened: in fact, there is a risk of years of imprisonment, up to 10 for episodes in which malicious intent is proven. All the efforts and prevention devices implemented this year by institutions, Arif, forestry personnel and the Puglia Region against forest fires may therefore prove to be of little use if citizens do not become aware of a situation which in Salento has already been declared an emergency for years.
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