Perhaps you have heard about the wildfires of the Montiferru area in 2021.
From our olive grove
Thankfully it did not kill any people but many animals, wild and domestic, and thousands of olive trees. (Luckily the beaches were not affected at all.)
Like almost all the people in Cuglieri, our family left on the evening of July 24 when some trees on the outskirts of the village burned and the fire-fighting aeroplanes gave up for the night. The air was too bad to breathe. Many people went to sleep on the beaches. Some took the risk of staying to water their houses and trees as best as they could, but we decided to go. As there was a long line of cars trying to leave on the main road, we took a small dirt road, hit the motorway north of the village to go south, with fires burning on the side of the road, and finally found a hotel room in Oristano in the middle of the night. It was a strange experience, unreal, like being in a sort of boring action movie.
When we came back the next morning, we were really nervous. What would the damage be? In our case, almost all of our 200-year-old olive trees just outside the centro storico, the old center of the village, were burned. But our houses were intact and the centro storico was barely affected at all. A storage place for our furniture and books was miraculously saved because Alberto, who also had stuff there, decided to stay to pour water over it. Within days a fresh wind cleared the air of Cuglieri.
Many here have been hit much, much harder than us. Many have lost houses in the countryside and olive trees. And animals. Most trees in the area have been somewhat burned, it will take some time before one knows how many have survived. When I learned that the tree that is the symbol of Cuglieri, the thousand - year - old huge olive tree "Sa Tanca Manna" had burned I began to cry. I loved that tree.
A week later the village is finally quiet and calm, without the noise of planes and helicopters passing on their way to areas further away where it was still burning.
Many rescue operations have been carried out. Lots of animal feed has arrived in trucks from all over Sardinia. Organizations and individuals have donated new, young olive trees for planting this spring. But the trees that were here were usually a couple of hundred years old. Not the same thing. Volunteers have watered ”Sa Tanca Manna” and are on guard so that people do not trample down the area around the old tree that needs to gather strength to perhaps start giving root shoots from the stumps. But the body of the tree is still gone.
What do you learn from a disaster like this? First one denies the seriousness. Then it becomes difficult to focus. Thoughts become repetitive. You think of your own family and later, when there is no imminent danger, you think of friends and others. I became silent and removed. Had a hard time concentrating on anything. The next day, when we went back, I was strangely happy (we were alive!). And wanted to talk to everyone, to process. A day later I became very strange and thought that everything was hopeless and meaningless. Then anger. Now I want to understand. What happened and why?
Many people’s first reaction was dramatic. Everything is ruined, tutti, tutti, tutti. Then came the Sardinian gallows humor. People started chatting, even joking, about their loss. On the theme: we have managed many difficulties so far, so why should we not manage this as well?
Then the mourning begins for all who have lost part of their livelihood, their animals and land. The struggle to survive begins. A lot of people were not insured, there was no economy in it. Olive trees seldom burn. Most people here who had animals or olive trees as side income were not registered companies, which probably means that they will not receive any support to replace them. Also, new trees demand removing the old roots with machines and using irrigation the first few years and none of these are available to most people here. A farmer tells me that he thinks the best way here is to just cut down the old trees and wait for the roots to start sprouting and then to graft twigs on to them. For an old olive tree has 6 meters deep roots. A bit like the Cuglieritani. Always surviving. But many hope this fire will a starting point for going beyond just surviving, towards renewal and development.
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