Calabrian arsonist starts forest fire, gets caught by drone

The government of the Italian region has declared zero tolerance for such criminals

Police authorities in the southern Italian region of Calabria used a drone to monitor and catch an arsonist while he was busy setting a fire in what appears to be a farm or forest area vegetation. The region apparently has 30 such flying machines used to control wildfires and the police now have ways to spot criminals in the act.

In the past ten days, the Mediterranean part of Europe has been in the throw of endless wildfires spurred on by chronic heatwave weather. However, there was a suspicion that behind at least some of them, there was intentional human involvement.

The video of the scandalous act from the Calabrian countryside confirms those fears. It was shared by the President of Calabria Roberto Occhiuto on his Facebook page with a caption: “Arsonist caught, chased and reported”. The video itself was followed by an emotional commentary on the part of the politician.

Calabria is a civilised region but it also has some imbeciles who go to set fires in the woods, like this arsonist we caught yesterday," Occhiuto said in the video. "Where does he come from, the caves?"

The video was also reshared by Antonio Tajani, Italy’s Foreign Minister and former President of the European Parliament.

Flying tech to the rescue in the wildfires

The video shows the arsonist, who becoming aware that he is being filmed started throwing stones at the drone in an attempt to take it down. The man was followed by the drone as he fled the scene on a motorbike and was reported to police.

Can drones become an invaluable tool in our fight against wildfires? There is hope as new inventions show that they can be more useful than airplanes or helicopters, at least in certain situations.

Euronews reported earlier this month that a fire-resistant drone has been developed by Swiss researchers. The machine is made from aerogel, which protects it from high temperatures. It can withstand 200°C for 10 minutes, also because its engine is located inside the body.