Italy's Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists over wildfire

NZ Herald

3 days ago

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Smoke rises from a wildfire at the Vesuvius National Park. Photo / Eliano Imperato, AFP
Italian firefighters and the army tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mt Vesuvius at the weekend, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists.
The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since late last week.
'The fire-fighting continues ceaselessly on three fronts,' a statement said.
The army created a fire break and reinforcement firefighters were brought in from other areas of Italy, while onsite teams used drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the region and fire service said.
The park's head Raffaele de Luca said the area affected covered some 500ha.