Rome police investigate cause of wildfire.

One firefighter and three civil protection volunteers were hospitalised with severe burns sustained while battling a vast wildfire in the eastern outskirts of Rome on Wednesday.

Police have launched an investigation into the blaze which broke out between the Torre Spaccata and Cinecittà districts and saw the deployment of all available units of Rome's fire brigade and civil protection units.

The four injured emergency responders suffered serious burns after the winds changed and they became encircled by flames, with a civil protection vehicle also destroyed in the fire.

The firefighter, 51, is in a critical condition with burns to 54 per cent of his body, reports La Repubblica, while the three civil protection voluteers were also very seriously injured.

Maxi #incendio a #Roma: in codice rosso per le ustioni 4 soccorritori. Le fiamme si sono sviluppate nel cosiddetto “#pratone” tra Cinecittà est, Torre Spaccata, Lamaro, Don Bosco e Cecafumo. Le operazioni di spegnimento sono ancora in corsopic.twitter.com/4Wt1ozyH0Y

— Rai Radio1 (@Radio1Rai) August 21, 2024

In a statement, Rome mayor Roberto Gualtieri offered his sincere thanks and best wishes for a speedy recovery to the four people injured in the blaze.

Separately, the city is undertaking a clear-up operation at the Monte Mario nature reserve, on a hill in a northern suburb of the capital, which was devastated by a recent wildfire.

The blaze is believed to have started at an illegal campsite, one of several makeshift camps that the city is working to dismantle and remove from the slopes of Monte Mario.

Photo Roma Capitale - Nova