Giorgio Armani assisted in the evacuation of scores of visitors after being forced to abandon his luxurious property on the island of Pantelleria due to flames.
The 88-year-old millionaire was hosting friends at his seaside estate on Wednesday evening and was enjoying an aperitif when he observed a plume of smoke rising from a neighboring mountain.
He promptly advised everyone to evacuate, and sure enough, flames began raging from Cala Cinque Denti towards his home town of Gadir.
The designer assisted the victims into his boats and notified the police and firemen.
Then, he began circling the island between Sicily and Tunisia, informing other vacationers that they needed to escape.
According to a spokesman for Armani, “the flames went close to the residence,” but he was unharmed.
It was Mr. Armani’s employees that raised the alarm. However, Mr. Armani decided to alert the neighbors by boat,’ she continued. The coastguard said that 30 vacationers were evacuated by boat after a vegetation fire broke out in the island’s northeast.
The fire caused no injuries or property damage, despite the fact that two water bombers were dispatched early Thursday morning to douse the flames.
The cause of the fire is being investigated, but Pantelleria’s mayor, Vincenzo Campo, believes it may have been intentionally set.
He praised the emergency services for their assistance and chastised the “cowards” who “trample this nation unjustly.”
Salvatore Cocina, the chief of the regional civil protection service, stated that arson was suspected in the two wildfires.
In addition to ground crews, firefighters employed Canadair aircraft to douse the flames and safeguard residences.
Local officials solicited any information that may assist in determining the origin of the fire, which began at two locations a quarter mile apart.
Pantelleria is a renowned beach and hiking destination with old archaeological sites and geological characteristics.
This summer, most of western Europe had minimal precipitation, and the combination of dry conditions and hot temperatures has fueled deadly forest fires.
Wildfires in Spain have charred more than 700,000 hectares so far this summer, the greatest amount since the European Union began collecting satellite data in 2006.
As two ‘catastrophic’ wildfires raged in Spain’s eastern region, the EU’s Earth Observation Program predicted that Spain will see more hot weather.
According to the EU agency, the flames in the Mediterranean provinces of Alicante and Castellon have each scorched over 13,000 hectares.
Authorities in Portugal confirmed that a fire that had been raging for over two weeks in the pine woods of Serra da Estrela national park had been contained. However, officials issued a warning regarding weather projections showing the imminent arrival of a severe new heat wave.
In a park where deep ravines and steep slopes make firefighting difficult, high temperatures, strong winds, and a severe drought contributed to the fire’s spread.
The Civil Protection Agency, a government agency, said that more than 1,100 firemen remained in the Serra da Estrela, keeping a watch out for hot spots and embers that may be thrown into virgin forest.
According to data from the European Union, the fire consumed more than 26,000 hectares of forest, or almost one-fourth of the park’s territory.