Fires ravage Italian island of Sardinia, forcing evacuations

MILAN (AP) — Fires raged Sunday on Italy’s Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where nearly 400 people were evacuated overnight. No deaths or injuries have been reported.

Firefighters said several homes were damaged in the island’s western interior region. Civil protection authorities said a preliminary survey indicates 10,000 acres have been consumed by flames around Montiferru, near the center of the Italy’s second-largest island.

Authorities evacuated 200 people from the town of Cuglieri overnight and another 155 from Sennariolo, where flames, according to the mayor, still had not reached residential areas. More than half of those evacuated in Cuglieri were allowed to return home Sunday, the news agency ANSA reported.

Eleven aircraft were working to put out the flames, the head of the island’s civil protection agency, Antonio Belloi, told ANSA.

Efforts were being hampered by hot southwesterly winds, putting the fire danger level at “extreme.”