Fire Update for 2025 in Italy: Smoking areas and impacts on forests have increased compared to 2024. Sixteen regions have been affected by fires.
Updated ISPRA data available online:
link: https://www.isprambiente.gov.it/files2025/attivita/relazione-incendi-boschivi-2025.pdf/
From January 1 to September 15, 2025, according to the latest available update from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), approximately 1,600 large forest fires were recorded nationwide, for a total burned area of nearly 890 km2. The 2025 fire season rivals that of 2023 for the worst result in the last four years, both in terms of total burned area and impact on forest ecosystems.
Estimates produced by ISPRA show that the forested areas affected by fires correspond to approximately 115 km2 (13% of the total affected by fires). This area includes 54 km2 of Mediterranean scrub, holm oak and cork oak forests, 33 km2 of oak forests, 23 km2 of coniferous forests, and 5 km2 of unclassified tree cover.
Where
As of September 15, 2025, 16 regions have been affected by fires. The most affected are Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, and Campania, which together account for 85% of the total burned area nationwide. Specifically, in Sicily, out of a total fire area of 480 km2, 37 km2 of forest ecosystems have been affected. In Calabria, 26 km2 of the total 143 km2 is forested. In Puglia, 10 km2 of the 81 km2 of forest ecosystems have been affected. Finally, in Campania, out of 58 km2 of total fire areas, 18 km2 were forested.
For 2025, the province of Agrigento remains the most affected by fires, with a total fire area of 171 km2 (19% of the total fire area nationwide). The province with the most forested areas affected by fires is the Cosenza area, with 13 km2 of forest ecosystems affected by fires.
Thirty-nine percent of the forest ecosystems affected by fires in the 2025 fire season fall within protected areas, mostly within Natura 2000 Network sites.
Relevant episodes
In the province of Trapani, in the municipalities of Buseto Palizzolo, Castellammare del Golfo, Custonaci, and San Vito Lo Capo, a large fire burned over 55 km² of natural shrubland and grassland on July 20. The fire-affected area lies primarily within sites of high natural value, including the Natura 2000 sites of Monte Cofano, Capo San Vito, Monte Sparagio, and the Zingaro Regional Nature Reserve.
The most significant fires affecting forest ecosystems occurred between July 22 and 23 and August 13 in the provinces of Enna and Caltanissetta, with an estimated burned forest area of approximately 11 km², located in the municipalities of Caltagirone, Caltanissetta, Enna, Gela, Niscemi, and Villarosa. Here too, the fires affected sites included in the Natura 2000 Network, specifically the "Boschi di Piazza Armerina" and "Sughereta di Niscemi" Special Conservation Areas.
On the slopes of Vesuvius, from August 5th to 12th, a large-scale fire affected approximately 8 km² in the municipalities of Boscotrecase, Ottaviano, San Giuseppe Vesuviano, Terzigno, and Trecase in the province of Naples. The forest area affected by the fire is 3 km². The entire burned area falls within the southeastern sector of the Vesuvius National Park and Natura 2000 Network sites.