Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has helped evacuate dozens of tourists after he was forced to flee his luxury villa on Pantelleria island due to forest fires.
The 88-year-old billionaire was entertaining guests at his seaside property on Wednesday night, sitting down for an aperitivo when he noticed a plume of smoke billowing from a nearby mountain.
He immediately told everyone they had to flee and indeed the flames from Cala Cinque Denti started raging towards the village of Gadir where he lives.
The designer helped them into his boats and alerted the carabinieri and firefighters.
He then began circling the island between Sicily and Tunisia, telling other tourists to evacuate.
Flames blaze behind fashion designer Giorgio Armani’s villa on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria as many homes were evacuated
The 88-year-old billionaire entertained guests at his oceanfront estate on Wednesday night (pictured).
Armani has helped evacuate dozens of tourists after being forced to flee his luxury mansion
A spokeswoman for Armani told AFP “the flames reached near the house,” but he was not injured.
“It was Mr. Armani’s staff that sounded the alarm. However, Mr Armani decided to take the boat to warn the neighbors,” she added.
The Coast Guard said 30 tourists were evacuated by boats after the fire broke out in vegetation in the northeast of the island.
No one was injured and no property damaged in the blaze, although two water bombers were deployed to try to douse the flames early Thursday morning.
Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire, but Pantelleria Mayor Vincenzo Campo said it could be arson.
People are evacuated on a dinghy as they watch wildfire burning on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria
Firefighters deployed Canadair aircraft to put out the blazes, along with ground teams to protect homes. Authorities said no structures appeared to have been lost
The region’s disaster management agency chief Salvatore Cocina said arson was suspected in two wildfires that forced about 30 people to take refuge on boats or in safer parts of the island
He thanked the emergency services for their help and condemned the “cowards” who are “unjustly trampling on this country”.
The head of the region’s civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, said arson was suspected in the two wildfires.
Firefighters deployed Canadair aircraft to put out the blazes, along with ground teams to protect homes
Local officials asked for information that would help determine the cause of the fire, which started in two locations a quarter mile apart.
Pantelleria is a popular beach and trekking destination with ancient archaeological sites and natural geographic formations.
Much of western Europe has seen little rain this summer and droughts combined with hot weather have fueled destructive wildfires.
Local officials asked for information that would help determine the cause of the fire, which started in two locations a quarter mile apart
The Coast Guard said 30 tourists were evacuated by boats after the fire broke out in vegetation in the northeast of the island
No one was injured and no property damaged in the blaze, although two water bombers were deployed early Thursday
So far this summer, wildfires in Spain have blackened more than 700,000 hectares, the largest area since the European Union began collecting satellite data in 2006.
The EU’s Earth observation program said even hotter weather was forecast for Spain as two “catastrophic” wildfires raged in the eastern part of the country.
The fires in the Mediterranean provinces of Alicante and Castellon have each charred more than 13,000 hectares, the EU authority said.
Meanwhile, Portuguese authorities reported that a forest fire that burned for nearly two weeks in the pine forests of Serra da Estrela National Park has been brought under control.
Pantelleria is a popular beach and trekking destination with ancient archaeological sites and natural geographic formations
The head of the region’s civil protection agency, Salvatore Cocina, said arson was suspected in the two wildfires
But officials warned of weather forecasts suggesting a dangerous new heatwave was about to arrive.
High temperatures, strong winds and a severe drought helped sustain the fire in the park, where deep gorges and steep slopes make firefighting difficult.
More than 1,100 firefighters stayed in the Serra da Estrela, keeping an eye out for hot spots and embers that could be blown into pristine forests, said the Civil Protection Agency, a government agency.
According to the European Union, the fire charred more than 26,000 hectares of forest – about a quarter of the park area.