UDINE- A female firefighter has been killed after she was crushed by a tree following an inspection of a burnt out forest, the local fire brigade have confirmed as Italy deals with a series of wildfires across the country.

 The woman has been named locally as 56-year-old Elena Lo Duca and she was volunteering for the civil defence department.

 Her death occurred on Thursday afternoon during an inspection in the town of Prepotto.

 The president of the Civil Protection Fabrizio Curcio said that “she was an absolute pillar. Her dedication makes this even more sad because her tragic death took place in the middle of an operation to make the people of the area safer.”

 Franco Gabrielli, the chief of the Italian civil defence department added that “she was an example for all of us. She showed us the greatness of a life dedicated to the service of others. To her family, the state police, the national civil defence department and the Friuli civil defence department I offer my sincerest condolences.”

 The fire comes in the midst of a heatwave across Italy with 16 Italy cities facing the highest alert level for temperatures on Friday.

 Meanwhile in Tuscany, one thousand people were evacuated due to a fire that broke out last Monday. The blaze started in Massarosa then spread to the neighbouring area of Camaiore and the district of Lucca covering a total of total of 868 hectares.

 105 firefighters were deployed on the scene together with six helicopters in a coordinated effort to stop the fire.

 The mayor of Massarosa Simona Barsotti said that “compared to yesterday the situation is much better. Now the fire is under control and we are constantly monitoring it” with a reported 90% of the flames having been extinguished.

 The public prosecutor’s office from Lucca have started an investigation into the exact cause of the fire with forces from Rome also having been brought in to assist the operation.

JD