Sat, Sep 04, 2021
Firefighters Use Drones To Fight Fires, And Catch Who Started Them
A drone camera caught an arsonist in the act of starting a forest fire, in Montesarchio, Italy about 30 miles NE of Naples. He is depicted in the video lighting the fire with a cigarette lighter before walking away. An unnamed suspect was arrested nearby and described by Police as a 50 year old sheep and goat farmer.
Firefighters put the fire out the same day after it destroyed about 5 acres of pasture and woods. Italy has had more forest fires than usual this year due to very dry conditions in forests and grasslands. Roberto Cingolani, a physicist who is Italy's minister for ecological transition, told his nation's parliament on Aug. 5 that people start "more than 70 percent of the fires" ravaging Italy's rural regions —most of them deliberately.
Cingolani continued by saying lightning strikes and natural cases are the reason for only 2 percent of forest fires. Comparatively, 57.4% are due to arson.
Firefighting drones have become a positive assistant in unexpected ways during the fire season in Italy and around the world. Not only can they help in cases like this, but they will also help commanders quickly analyze the scene of fires and emergency events.
Alberto Brivio, President of Coldiretti Bergamo, a regional farmers’ association shared that there has been a mass slaughter of farm animals due to the wildfires that have burned through tens of thousands of acres. Brivio speculated that Mafia organizations could be setting fires in order to "force farmers to sell their land,” due to being ready for development after the fire.
He continued to share how they are devastating the countryside of Apulia. The farmer’s charges are still unannounced at this time.
More News
Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]
Pilot Reported That He Was Unfamiliar With The Single Seat Amateur-Built Airplane And His Intent Was To Perform High-Speed Taxi Testing Analysis: The pilot reported that he was unf>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): First Kits to Ship October 2023 Having formerly resurrected the storied shape of the Ryan ST—in effigy, anyway—Montrose, Colorado-based Tim>[...]
Performance-Based Navigation (PBN) [ICAO] Area navigation based on performance requirements for aircraft operating along an ATS route, on an instrument approach procedure or in a d>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23
See All