Raging wildfires force evacuations along Italy’s Amalfi Coast — as officials suspect a coordinated arson plot sparked simultaneous blazes

A coastal Italian mayor warned that a sweeping wildfire across the Amalfi Coast was likely the result of an arson plot, according to local news reports.

Positano Mayor Gabriella Guida leads the cliffside community on the border between the Amalfi Coast and the Sorrento Peninsula, where blazes damaged protected woodland, Italian newspaper Il Mattino reported.

The raging wildfire along Italy’s famed Amalfi Coast forced precautionary evacuations across the Mediterranean getaway, according to reports.

The flames left tourists on edge as emergency crews battled the blaze across the coastal destination, reports said.

Firefighters were deployed in both aerial and ground operations to combat the scrubland blaze near Amalfi, according to officials.

Efforts to extinguish the fire continued uninterrupted along the coast after the blaze erupted Monday evening, according to Reuters.

The flames affected areas surrounding Cus Pogerola, Positano, Amalfi and Tovere di Amalfi, local news outlets reported.

Nearby coastal zones along the Mediterranean corridor were also affected by the spreading fire, local news outlets reported.

Fire crews worked through the night to prevent the flames from reaching residential areas, according to reports. No injuries or damage to homes were reported.

Strong winds initially prevented helicopters from taking part in the emergency response, local reports said. Firefighting aircraft joined the operation by morning.

Italy’s national fire service, Vigili del Fuoco, said on X that emergency crews responded to scrubland fires across the region.

The agency said blazes stretched between Positano, Amalfi, Agerola and Vico Equense along the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento Peninsula.

A total of seven ground teams and three aircraft were deployed as part of the firefighting operation, according to the Turkish news organization Anadolu Agency.

Some restaurants and facilities in key locations were evacuated as a precaution, Anadolu Agency reported. Concerns grew steadily among tourists staying in the region, the news outlet stated.

Local leaders warned of severe environmental damage across the rugged coastline, Il Mattino said.

Officials also publicly raised suspicions of arson behind the simultaneous blazes, according to the Italian newspaper.

Guida confirmed that the fire ravaged the woods of Tordigliano, the newspaper reported.

Those damaged woods sit on the border between the Amalfi Coast and the Sorrento Peninsula, according to the report.

The flames reached much of the state road, which was closed to ensure safe firefighting operations, local news outlets reported. The fire then descended toward Positano.

The blaze also threatened upper mountain hamlets in the Capo d’Acqua area before Montepertuso, according to local newspapers.

Those mountain settlements are situated between Positano and Santa Maria del Castello, reports said.

Guida expressed fears that the loss of centuries-old trees would trigger major hydrogeological disruption, Il Mattino reported.

The mayor warned that landslides could follow once the first rains arrived, according to the newspaper.

Guida said she believes the cause was likely arson, local outlets reported.

Fires broke out simultaneously across Vico Equense, Agerola, Amalfi and Positano, Guida pointed out. That timing appeared to indicate a coordinated plan rather than a coincidence, local outlets reported.

Guida acknowledged the economic toll on the destination, according to the newspaper. Travelers were frightened during what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation, the mayor noted.

Guida urged anyone with information about the fires to speak up, according to the newspaper.

Sorrento Mayor Corrado Fattorusso released an official statement expressing solidarity with the administrations and communities of the Sorrento Peninsula and the Amalfi Coast, according to local news outlet Il Sole 24 Ore.

Fattorusso described the fires as an attack on the region’s identity, history and environmental heritage, the news outlet reported. He urged authorities to move from words to action by identifying the culprits and establishing concrete land monitoring and prevention measures.

As of midweek, fire crews were still working to extinguish the remaining hot spots in areas around the Amalfi Coast and Sorrento Peninsula, according to numerous reports.