Italy's current heat wave has led to a sharp increase in the number of forest and brush fires, civil protection authorities said.
The southeast region of Puglia is one of the hardest hit by the fires, two more of which broke out during the night between Sunday and Monday.
One of these fires destroyed three power-line towers.
Civil Protection officials said Puglia remained at high risk of fire because of the continuing drought there.
In neighboring Calabria, fire-fighters, a Canadair plane and a navy helicopter brought under control a fire near the A3 Salerno-Reggio Calabria motorway which had been shut down on Sunday. Traffic reopened in the late morning.
Further north in the Marche region some 1,000 hectares have gone up in flames in at least three separate fires.
The situation is said to be critical in Cancelli di Fabriano, near Ancona, where fire-fighters from the northwest region of Piedmont have joined local firemen, bringing with them their Canadair plane as well as other aircraft.
A fire on Mt Etna in Sicily was initially believed to have been a volcanic eruption and has already destroyed over 100 hectares of forest and brush.
Civil protection authorities said most of the fires were due to human negligence but added that arson was suspected in a number of cases.
The environment ministry and law enforcement agencies are working together to combat arson for which environment Minister Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio said there must be zero tolerance.
"We must send out a clear and strong signal that we will defend our parklands. We must spare no effort to ensure the territory and use an iron first against arsonists," he said.
The extreme heat is also believed to be responsible for the death of a 55-year-old man in Messina, Sicily, who died of a heart attack while sitting on a park bench.
