Several residents left their homes as a precaution. Flames near the motorway, closed A19
In Sicily fear in Palermo for a big fire that broke out in the hills surrounding the Borgo Nuovo district. Fueled by the strong sirocco wind, the flames lick some houses and would have also affected some garages. Several residents who have left their homes as a precaution. On-site fire brigade teams and civil protection personnel.
In Borgo Nuovo an inspection by the mayor of Palermo, Roberto Lagalla, and his deputy, Carolina Varchi. “For several hours, several fires have been putting a strain on the people of Palermo – says the mayor – Together with the deputy mayor Carolina Varchi I went to make an inspection in the Borgo Nuovo neighborhood to personally check that the situation is under control”.
The scorching temperatures, with the mercury column that exceeded 40 degrees, and the strong sirocco wind fuel the fires in the Palermo area. Dozens of speeches this morning. Ground crews of firefighters and 5 Canadair are hard at work extinguishing the flames affecting the municipalities of Carini, Torretta, Bolognetta, Partinico, Monreale, Belmonte Mezzagno, San Giuseppe Jato. Some teams from Enna and Agrigento also participate in the extinguishing operations.
The A19 ‘Palermo-Catania’ motorway is closed to traffic, in both directions, between the Trabia and Termini Imerese junctions, due to the presence of a fire at the edge of the motorway. Anas staff is present on site to manage the road network and to restore traffic in the shortest possible time.
On the other hand, traffic along the A19dir motorway between via Giafar and Villabate has been released in both directions. The stop to the cars was caused by a fire that licked the road. Queues remain.
The Regional Civil Protection has published the bulletin for the risk of fires and heat waves, valid from midnight and for the following 24 hours. For tomorrow in Palermo a significant decrease in the risk of heat waves is expected, which drops to level 1 (yellow color), with a maximum perceived temperature of 35 degrees. Trend still down for the day after tomorrow, August 20, when the maximum perceived temperature should be around 33 degrees (level 0).
As regards the risk of fires, for the day tomorrow in the province of Palermo the expected danger is ‘medium’ (level of ‘early warning’, orange color).
Source-www.adnkronos.com