Sicilian wildfires prompt evacuations

PALERMO, Italy, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Dozens of Italians were forced to leave their homes in Sicily this week as regional wildfires damaged homes and threatened communities.

With increasing winds hindering firefighters' attempts to control the blazes Wednesday, officials at a hospital near the coastal town of Cefalu have begun to take steps for their own evacuation from the endangered area, the Italian news agency ANSA said.

Portions of southern Italy have also been beset by wildfires during the last month, leading authorities to lay the blame for the rash of fires on arsonists.

Those reports have led the World Wide Fund for Nature to ask that financial rewards be offered for information leading to the capture of the suspected arsonists.

A 17-year-old suspect was arrested Wednesday in the Puglia region of Italy in connection to a recent fire in protected woodland.

ANSA said that to date, the wildfires have leveled numerous such woodland locales and have killed several people.