Ciminna: 26-year-old dies after attempting to fight wildfire

Salvatore Giglia, a 26-year-old man, has died at the Civico Hospital in Palermo after sustaining severe third-degree burns while attempting to defend his countryside property and villa from a massive fire in Ciminna, Sicily.

The incident has triggered a criminal investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of Termini Imerese. Authorities are examining possibilities of manslaughter and are investigating whether the fire was intentionally set, which could lead to charges of homicide resulting from another crime.

During the funeral services, presided over by the Archbishop of Palermo, Corrado Lorefice, the Archbishop described the blaze not as a tragedy of chance, but as the ‘poisoned fruit of a cowardly and intentional criminal hand’.

The municipality of Ciminna has declared a period of local mourning. Mayor Vito Filippo Barone has also requested a state of emergency and calamity from the Sicilian Region, citing the destruction of over 600 hectares and insufficient resources to combat the widespread wildfires affecting the territory.