Mount Vesuvius on fire

Mount Vesuvius on fire: People evacuated as smoke engulfs volcano, seen from Pompeii

RT,

11 July, 2017

A huge blaze has broken out on the slopes of Italy's Mount Vesuvius and near the city of Naples, prompting an evacuation of tourists and local residents for the second time in a week.

The huge pillars of smoke from fires raging through the forests on the slopes of Vesuvius rose to more than 2 kilometers up in the air and were also 2 kilometers wide at the top, AP reports. Clearly visible from Naples, the smoke deceived some people into believing that the volcano was erupting.

The local weather channel 3B Meteo compared images of the fires with pictures of the volcano's most recent eruption in 1944, which destroyed three villages.

Sembra l'eruzione del 1944... invece sono incendi di questo #11luglio http://bit.ly/incendiVesuvio 

#Vesuvio

12:26 AM - 12 Jul 2017

Many tourists, who were visiting the famous archeological site of the Ancient Roman city of Pompeii, not far from Naples, also witnessed huge clouds of smoke darkening the skies.

Nida‏ @nidssserz

Huge ongoing fire on Mount Vesuvius. The view of the smoke from Pompeii.

12:51 AM - 12 Jul 2017

Marco السلام‏ @meteorologo777

Impressive!! Mount #Vesuvius on fire! #Italy #Vesuvio #Pompeii

3:44 AM - 12 Jul 2017 from Rome, Lazio

Some local residents turned to social media to say that ash from the fires fell in many neighboring towns.

According to some twitter posts, hundreds of people were evacuated from the area.

Terremoti Italia‏ @Terremoti7

ITALY - BREAKING: Huge Fire on On Mount #Vesuvius - #Naples. Hundreds of people evacuated. #Italy #Vesuvio

12:10 AM - 12 Jul 2017

The Italian Civil Protection Agency called the fire outbreak in the Vesuvius National Park one of the “most critical situations,” as reported by the Local.

Fires broke out on the volcano's northeastern side, news agency Ansa reported, as well as in two locations on the southwest side, including Via Vesuvio in Herculaneum which was the scene of another blaze the previous week.

Some residents were evacuated from their homes on Monday, local media reported, adding that, on Tuesday, some restaurants, businesses and more homes were evacuated as a precaution.