Fire in Italy – clouds of smoke now cover the holiday resort of Grado!

Fire units from Udine, Trieste and Gorizia (Gorizia) were already fighting the flames in the karst area on Tuesday evening. The fire even had to clear the toll booth of the Lisert motorway and certain sections of the A4 motorway between Redipuglia and Lisert in the direction of Trieste were closed by the Italian motorway operator Autovie Venete.

Helga Happ, owner of the reptile zoo Happ in Klagenfurt, currently resides in Grado with her granddaughter. When she went up to her balcony around 6am on Wednesday morning, she saw clouds of smoke: “I was really scared! The smoke was sharp and brought tears to my eyes!”

Stay in the room, don’t open the window
The smoke is believed to have come from the fire in the city of Monfalcone. Happ responded with presence of mind: “I called the professional fire brigade in Klagenfurt to ask what to do!” Stay in the hotel room and keep the windows closed, the comrades said.

“My first instinct was to go straight home, but when I read that the highway was also closed, I decided to wait in my room for the rest of the day and only go home in the evening!” Happ describes her situation.

“There was a lot of nervousness”
The smoke has now almost cleared, but the shock remains. Giorgio Arditto, tourism expert in Lignano, describes the mood among holidaymakers: “Holidaymakers have different opinions. No one ever openly told me they were scared, but especially after the fires in Bibione I was nervous!” Others, however, didn’t let their holiday mood spoil, Arditto says.