Visible from space: Vesuvius fire has three fronts still active, firefighters continue battle

The fire that broke out on Friday night in the Mount Vesuvius National Park continues to burn. The extremely high column of smoke produced by the fire in the national park is also visible from space. Satellite photos showing the Gulf of Naples with a long white plume rising from one side of the volcano have gone viral on the web, demonstrating the severity of the fire and the extent of the fire front.

According to information from the Prefect of Naples, Michele di Bari, at the end of a meeting of the Rescue Coordination Centre, there are still three active fronts: the Valle del Gigante towards Monte Somma, where the Canadair firefighting aircraft are operating, the southern slope of the crater, where regional Civil Protection helicopters are battling the flames. And the Vicinale area, where last night's wind rekindled the flames, which were tackled by ground teams.

The public prosecutor's office in Nola (Naples), which is responsible for the area, has opened a file to clarify the origin of the fire that is bringing one of the country's landscape and cultural symbols to its knees. According to what has been learnt so far, there no suspects and no crime hypotheses have been identified so far, pending the report that will be presented by the Carabinieri foresters.

Since the early hours of Sunday, 6 Canadairs and 4 helicopters have been involved, in addition to 15 teams of Civil Protection volunteers mobilised by an extraordinary decree of the Minister of Civil Protection and Sea Policies, at the request of the Campania Region. The Fire Brigade has reinforced its presence with two forest fire-fighting modules from Tuscany and Marche and reinforcement teams from Benevento and Salerno.

On the health and logistical front, the mayors of the four worst hit municipalities have activated the Municipal Operations Centres and a fixed 24-hour medical station in Terzigno. The Asl Napoli 1 Centro has made the residence of the Ospedale del Mare available to host volunteers from other regions.

On the environmental and economic front, Italian farmers' group Coldiretti is reporting extensive damage to the Lacryma Christi DOP vine cultivation right on the eve of the grape harvest, as well as to the Pellecchiella apricot and Pomodorino del Piennolo DOP tomato cultivations. Also at risk are agritourism sites and tasting routes, with a very hard impact on local tourism and agriculture.

Legambiente report: 56,263 hectares already up in smoke in Italy

The seriousness of the situation is part of an alarming national context: according to Legambiente's report Italia in fumo (Italy in smoke), between 1 January and 31 July 2025 there were 851 fires for a total of 56,263 hectares burnt, already exceeding the surface area affected in all of 2024. In particular, over 18,700 hectares of Natura 2000 areas were destroyed in 253 fire episodes, confirming a trend defined as "chronic" by the association, which has launched an appeal to safeguard Italy's natural heritage.