Police nab fireman for arson as Italy blazes rage

Italy's fire brigade was tackling flames nationwide, where a relentless heat wave has turned fields and woods into tinder. With the wind picking up, nine regions launched urgent appeals for water planes.

The president of the Calabria region, Mario Oliverio, called on the government to send in the army as exhausted firefighters and civil protection volunteers raced to stop the flames reaching villages.

In the Lombardy region, the 28-year-old arsonist was filmed on a security camera setting hedges and rubbish bins alight before returning to base, sounding the alarm and rushing along with the colleagues to put the fire out.

Police said he had set at least seven fires since 2014.

On Monday, 15 firefighters were arrested in Sicily on suspicion of having started fires in order to receive bonus payments.

"You cannot link the concept of earning a salary and firefighting in a period of economic crisis such as this," said Antonio Brizzi, secretary general of the Conapo fire fighters' union.

"Cuts mean we have 3,500 fewer firemen than necessary, which has led in some cases to a hurried use of volunteers," adding that the latter needed to be chosen on more stringent psychological tests.

While much of the country sweltered, the heat in the Veneto region resulted in violent storms overnight Thursday to Friday which lashed the area, landing three people in hospital and lightly injuring 45 others.

Meanwhile, wildfires flare across Portugal following a rise in temperatures and strong winds, with more than 1,500 firefighters deployed to tackle 17 separate blazes.

The change in weather brings about an end to the cooler days which served as a brief respite from a spate of blazes, including one that killed 64 people in June.

The number of wildfires ratcheted up from seven to 17 in the space of a few hours, with most afflicting areas in central and northern Portugal.

A stretch of Portugal's main north-south highway, the A1, was closed due to one blaze. Massive clouds of smoke prevented the use of water-dropping planes in some places. No injuries were reported.

Temperatures are forecast to keep rising in coming days, which could worsen what is already a bad year for forest fires.

Portugal usually has woodland blazes in the summer, but this year has been particularly unfavorable because around 80 percent of the country is experiencing "severe," or "extreme," drought conditions.