ROME, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Italy's northwest areas remained on high alert for fire danger on Monday when wildfires have been devastating the Piedmont region at the border with France since Oct. 10, and are spreading to the nearby Lombardy region, according to the Italian Fire Department.
Up to mid-Monday, firefighters were at work in 11 areas between the provinces of Turin and Cuneo in Piedmont, and in at least four areas in Lombardy, the department stated on Twitter.
Interior Minister Marco Minniti chaired an emergency meeting with local authorities in Turin, capital of piedmont region, and was to call another meeting in Lombardy's city of Varese later on Monday, according to local authorities.
In the Susa Valley -- where Turin metropolitan area lies -- the situation appeared very critical on Sunday, and about 700 residents scattered in several hamlets were evacuated, including a care home for the elderly.
Overall, some 502 firefighters have been deployed across 22 areas in Piedmont in the last 48 hours, local authorities said. At least 8 of them suffered from smoke intoxication so far, but no other casualties were reported, according to Ansa news agency.
Piedmont submitted a state of emergency request to the central government on Oct. 27. When a state of maximum alert due to fire danger was declared on Oct. 10, some 130 wildfires spread across the region, devastating at least 2,000 hectares of land, according to the regional government. Overall, some 2,000 firefighters and civil protection officers, plus 2,200 volunteers, and 500 emergency vehicles were deployed.
The situation appeared to be worsening in Lombardy, due to wildfires combined with a prolonged lack of rain, and the regional government would plan to file a request for the state of emergency as well, the civil protection councilor told local media ahead of the scheduled meeting with Minniti, the interior minister.
Fires were affecting areas across five different municipalities, including Varese and Como near the border with Switzerland. Four helicopters, two Canadair water-dropping planes dispatched from the central government, and a third one from Croatia were being deployed for aerial firefighting in Lombardy, according to Ansa news agency.
