Wildfires sweep southwest Rome, forcing evacuations and halting airport trains

Outbreaks across southwest Rome

Fires broke out across southwest Rome on Friday as high temperatures and strong winds drove flames through dry brush and reed beds. The initial blaze began around 10:30 on the Trullo hill near via del Trullo and via San Giuliano Terme, prompting municipal police to close via Fulda to assist emergency crews. Around 13:00, flames near via del Trullo 382 produced thick smoke columns visible across the city and led officials to evaluate Canadair aircraft deployments. Ten residents evacuated from Trullo returned to their homes by 15:30 as initial containment efforts progressed. Around 15:00, a larger blaze erupted from private land between via Campiglia Marittima and via Riccardo Lombardi in the Petrelli district, spreading toward via della Magliana Nuova and via dell'Imbrecciato.

Evacuations and building damage

Flames in the Magliana and Portuense districts pushed directly toward multi-story residential buildings along via Pietro Frattini, via di Vigna Due Torri, and via Giuseppe La Masa. Carabinieri carried two elderly residents over 80 years old, one of whom was bedridden, out of an attic on via Vigna Due Torri before transferring them to San Camillo hospital for mild smoke inhalation. Building concierge Vasile Lojhan joined emergency responders and operated residential fire hoses on via Pietro Frattini before police evacuated occupants between numbers 277 and 291. Resident Leonardo sprayed his balcony and curtains with a garden hose to protect his home against incoming embers. The fire destroyed one car, damaged two others, and scorched the balcony blinds of an apartment that emergency personnel declared temporarily uninhabitable.

Emergency response and safety measures

Nine fire brigade teams worked alongside municipal civil protection units to contain the fire front near critical infrastructure. Approximately twenty carabinieri from the Villa Bonelli barracks deployed forty fire extinguishers to halt advancing flames before they reached a neighboring petrol station. The fire damaged overhead electrical cables on the Roma-Fiumicino railway, forcing transport officials to suspend train service between Roma Ostiense and Ponte Galeria. Former Civil Protection director and current deputy cabinet chief Giuseppe Napolitano monitored containment efforts in via della Magliana Vecchia alongside Urban Safety director Stefano Guarino.

Today is the perfect storm, the condition that creates anguish for those who must fight against the flames.

Lazio regional emergency officials placed seven of the region's fourteen monitored zones under an orange fire warning alongside a red weather warning for high temperatures.

Regional traffic disruptions and peripheral blazes

Emergency teams addressed several additional fires south of the capital throughout Friday afternoon. Local police closed via Pontina in both directions near kilometer 16, redirecting southbound traffic at the Tor de' Cenci exit and northbound traffic with a U-turn at kilometer 19.5. Another fire broke out on via di Pratica di Mare near the presidential estate, requiring the IX Gruppo Eur to close the roadway at via della Comunella toward Castel Romano. In the adjacent municipality of Ardea, seven firefighter crews responded to via Bergamo near the intersection with via Pratica di Mare, where a fire partially damaged a horse riding facility without causing personal injuries.