Giorgio Armani forced to flee wildfire on Sicilian island
Italian designer Giorgio Armani was among 30 people forced to flee their vacation homes on a Sicilian island overnight because of wildfires, Italian media reported.
The famed fashion designer and guests staying at his luxury villa on the island of Pantelleria had to evacuate to a boat in the harbor.
A dramatic photo shows flames burning just outside Armani’s villa, but his press office said that the blaze stopped short of the property.
Flames burn beyond fashion designer Giorgio Armani's villa on the Sicilian island of Pantelleria, Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022. (HONS/)
Former Italian soccer star Marco Tardelli and Italian television host Francesca Barra were also among the people who had to evacuate their homes and seek refuge on boats or other parts of the island.
“It was a difficult night, but we are OK,” Barra wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
According to the Italian news agency ANSA, the fire started in two different places on the small island, about a quarter-mile apart.
Two Canadair fire-fighting planes were used to put out the flames.
Designer Giorgio Armani (Michel Euler/)
The blaze was extinguished by Thursday morning, according to the island’s mayor, Vincenzo Campo.
“After the great fear of last evening and the night spent at work, Pantelleria is returning to normal,” Campo told ANSA. “It seems the worst is over.”
Local authorities have opened an investigation.
Several wildfires — some of them arson — have destroyed parts of Italy in recent months, as the entire European continent deals with unprecedented heatwaves.
Some experts have linked the rising heat to human-made climate change.
According to Reuters, much of southern Italy remains in the grip of a dangerous heatwave, with temperatures reaching 104 degrees in parts of Sicily.
With News Wire Services
