Motorbike bursts into flames in the woods. Two days of fire on the Oriano hill

The fire, which began on Saturday in Oriano sopra Ticino, near Sesto Calende, is under control. The flames broke out on the hill, known locally as “il poggio”, which divides the hamlet from nearby Mercallo, and were caused by a motocross bike that was involved in an incident.

 

“We had the flames under control at 3.30 p.m., and then we started to put out the final embers,” Stefano Triscornia, the Head of Operations, said. “The situation is now under control, and if the weather continues to get worse, it’ll be much better for us. In any case, if the blanket of snow covers the embers during the night and puts them out, “four woodland fire teams have been already alerted for Monday morning.”

 

It is still unknown exactly how much of the wood has burnt, although several hectares have been mentioned. On Sunday, 25 firemen from Ispria, Somma, Laveno, Varese and Busto, worked to tackle the flames, together with 35 people from the woodland fire teams of the Ticino Park, with 12 vehicles and, on Saturday and Sunday, about 30 specialists of the Woodland Fire Team of Varese Province (who are part of the units of Caravate, Valtinella, Ternate, Angera, Venegono Inferiore, Gorla Maggiore, Casale Litta, Cavaria and the National Protection Group).

 

“The work on the ground and in the air was excellent,” Triscornia continued, “with the teams working incessantly to create fire barriers, and the regional helicopter dumping water about thirty times.”

 

THE FRONTS OF THE FIRE

On the whole, there were three fronts involving the area between “il Poggio di Oriano” and “Monte della Croce”. “It was an abnormal fire,” Triscornia explained, “because the flames started on the top and then spread downwards. For this reason, the fire immediately went to the top of the trees, burning the more resinous ones, in particular, and then spread a lot thanks also to the strong wind and to the ground, which was very dry.” For this reason, “On Saturday, we worked hard to create fire barriers to stop the flames;” this was achieved at about 10.30 on Sunday morning.

 

After work was suspended overnight, the operations began on Sunday morning, at 5 a.m., with a fixed garrison near a house that was particularly close to the front of the fire, and then, at 7 a.m., the teams started to move on the fronts.

 

HOW THE FIRE BEGAN

The fire began after an accident involving a young man who was doing motocross trials; after he fell in the wood, his motorbike burst into flames. The motorcyclist, who was uninjured, was unable to stop the flames, and immediately sounded the alarm.

 

The Chief Firemen of Varese immediately sent three teams, from Laveno, Ispra and Somma Lombardo, in addition to a support helicopter (which was used to monitor the extent of the fire). The operating base was established in Mercallo, in Via Canné. At the very beginning, fire volunteers from the Ticino Park were redirected to the site, after having been involved in another wood fire in the area, in Vergiate, on Saturday morning (once this fire had been put out, in the early afternoon, work to clear the final embers continued). Then, as evening fell, all operations were suspended, although some observers remained on the edge of the area affected.

 

The operations to put out the fire were made more difficult by gusts of wind, which stoked the flames. On Saturday, there were other woodland fires, for example, in Sumirago (the fire extended to cabins, hen houses and brushwood).