Around 3,000 residents evacuated in Tuscany as winds fan forest fire

ROME, Italy - Italian firefighters were on Friday battling to put out a large forest fire in Tuscany that has burned for days fanned by strong winds, forcing the evacuation of around 3,000 people.

The fire, active since Tuesday, has spread over 800 hectares on Mount Faeta, straddling the provinces of Lucca and Pisa, the mayor of a neighboring town, San Giuliano Terme, said.

It was likely provoked by the burning of olive tree prunings that got out of hand, Matteo Cecchelli told public broadcaster RAI.

Overnight, strong winds fuelled the fire, prompting the precautionary evacuations, Tuscany regional president Eugenio Giani said in a statement.

Three Canadair firefighting planes, which scoop water from lakes, rivers or seas before dropping it on fires, had been deployed to support ground staff, the national fire department said on X.

"The fire is still very much active," the deputy mayor of Lucca, Fabio Barsanti, said in a Facebook video.

"All efforts are being made to contain as much as possible the perimeter of the fire, but we cannot relax or make predictions because we are at the mercy of the wind," he said. — Reuters