Two fire fronts in Sardinia while the South stays above 35 degrees

On September 4th the firefighting teams of the Region of Sardinia intervened on two separate fires, with the support of aerial vehicles: helicopters and Canadair aircraft. This is reported by The Social Post based on communications from the regional firefighting system.

For that same day the forecast picture was already on alert. The Municipality of Carbonia had issued the regional Civil Protection bulletin with a yellow code and medium danger level for its territory. On the other side of the Italian Mediterranean, the municipal Civil Protection of Taranto reported moderate danger for wildfires, with a specific notice on the burning of stubble, as reported by InfoALERT365. In Taranto, a state of severe danger for wildfires and wildland-urban interface fires is in effect for 2026, declared by mayoral ordinance no. 31/2026.

The heat that keeps the season open

The coincidence between the two bulletins and the Sardinian interventions is not accidental: it depends on the atmospheric conditions of these days. For the weekend of September 5th and 6th, forecasts reported by InfoCilento indicate clear skies and highs over 35 degrees in the Province of Salerno, with the African anticyclone stable over Southern Italy. In the Sannio area, according to the bulletin from NTR24, expected highs reach 35-36 degrees in Benevento and in the flat areas, while in the hills temperatures remain between 31 and 34 degrees.

Late September with temperatures of this order means vegetation that is still dry and a risk period that does not close. This is why in Apulia the state of severe danger remains declared and daily bulletins continue to be issued.

The season’s tally

The number that gives the measure of summer 2026 predates yesterday’s fires. According to the analysis by One Health Focus, at the beginning of August the hectares burned in Italy were already around 70,000: an area 133% larger than the average of the last twenty years.

In the same overview the season appears as a sequence of events different from one another: whirlwinds on the Asiago Plateau, cloudbursts in the Phlegraean area, a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in Pozzuoli on August 1st, 2026. The least predictable data point, however, concerns Campania: in the Salerno area the 2026 fire tally is down compared to previous years. The national average, in other words, conceals wide territorial differences.

What we don’t know

Regarding the two Sardinian fires, we do not know the precise location, the extent of the area affected by the fire, any involvement of homes, or the causes of ignition. The available source reports the intervention and the vehicles deployed, not the outcome.

Regarding the figure of 70,000 hectares, its nature must be clarified: it is an analysis based on system data, updated to early August, and not an end-of-season final report. The comparison with the twenty-year average depends on this. We do not, at present, have an update of that figure for early September.

The forecasts cited cover the weekend and two areas of southern Italy: they do not describe the national trend nor the following week. The next verifiable element will be the daily danger bulletins from the regional and municipal civil protection authorities, which remain the only public tool with daily frequency.