We've heard about the fires in Italy and Greece of late ... the Guardian adds a new wrinkle:
... you don't suppose they heard about the anniversary of Nero's fire at Rome a while back and thought it was a good idea?
Suspicions that many of the hundreds of fires sweeping Italy this summer were started by organised crime were heightened when a firefighting helicopter was reportedly shot at and saboteurs attacked a communications beacon used by firefighters near Naples.
The helicopter was hovering over the Volturno river in the Campania region on Monday when the large canister suspended below it for scooping up water was hit by 18 bullets, according to operators. On the same day the wiring at a radio beacon in nearby Irpinia used for firefighter communications was ripped out.
"There is a clearly an offensive under way, presumably organised by the powerful Casalesi Camorra clan," a regional government official, Corrado Gabriele, told Il Giornale. "Behind these simple fires hides a business worth millions, with the Camorra aiming to create new zones for building," he added.
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... you don't suppose they heard about the anniversary of Nero's fire at Rome a while back and thought it was a good idea?