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Tuesday 28 July 2015

SCRUB FIRES- OUR ANNUAL NIGHTMARE

So here we go again!
The hill behind Marina del Cantone has just gone up in flames and as I am writing I can hear  the fire-engine racing down the road with its siren on. The smoke is rising in the sky and you can hear the crackling of the burning vegetation.
Last night it was the turn of Tordigliano, on the way to Positano. A few nights previously, Monte Monticchio.
It is the same old story, year in, year out. Strangely enough the fires always happen  at dusk or some time during the night, making it impossible for the helicopters to come in  until daybreak or even later, when the damage is already done. 
Admittedly it hasn't rained properly for weeks, and yes, it has been and still is incredibly hot, the ground parched and the grass dried to straw. However this makes it an arsonist's dream.
Prevention is virtually impossible, the area  too vast to patrol even should there be sufficient manpower.
There are some very sad and very sick people out there, who evidently get their excitement from seeing the flames go high up into the sky, as they destroy the countryside   and fill the air with smoke and cinders.  In all the years I have been here, no one has ever, ever been caught.
So now the waiting game begins. What is next on the list? Monte San Costanzo, Punta Campanella (still bearing the signs of last autumn's fire), Monte Vico Alvano, Monte Comune, Faito?
This autumn, once again, we will be walking along our trails surveying the damage, but at the same time admiring the resistance of nature as the first green shoots push their way up through the ground, ready for the coming year..


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