Palermo homes evacuated as wildfires encroach

(ANSA) - Palermo, June 16 - Several council flats were evacuated in Palermo after a fire broke out in the Sicilian capital Thursday. Carabinieri, fire services and forest guards were on the scene. Wildfires are currently raging in several parts of Sicily and some motorways and highways have been closed. The A20 motorway between Palermo and Messina was shut down to the wildfires that are also threatening several buildings and hotels in the area. The 113 state highway between Lascari and Cefalù was also closed.
Some 50 nursery-school children were overcome by fumes from a fire on Monte Caputo at Monreale near Palermo  and taken to hospital, while the school was evacuated. They are not in a serious condition. Fire and forest services saved a girl trapped by the flames in her villa. Several homes have been evacuated and suffered fire damage. Sicily, like Sardinia and other parts of southern Italy, is plagued by arsonists' wildfires every summer.