Italy to use satellites to spot forest fires
Date: 16-Aug-01
Country: ITALY
"We are experimenting with GPS (Global Positioning System)," Alemanno told the respected Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview.
"With satellites we can identify fires as soon as they develop," he added.
The number of forest fires in Italy, stoked by soaring temperatures and strong winds, has surged this month. According to official figures, 1,766 fires were reported in the first 12 days of August, up from 803 in the same year-ago period.
In August last year, 4,377 forest fires destroyed 39,564 hectares of land.
Forest fires, a regular feature of the Italian summer, were often caused by arsonists, sometimes hoping to buy burnt land cheap, and negligence by smokers who drop burning cigarettes, civil protection and farm officials said.