Irish family describes ‘traumatic’ escape from Italy fire

A Co Sligo man has described his family’s “traumatic” experience of fleeing a major fire at a popular campsite on the shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy over the weekend.

Twenty-four people were injured in the blaze, which broke out at the Bella Italia campsite in Peschiera del Garda at around 6am yesterday morning.

The site, on the southern shore of Lake Garda, is a hugely popular destination for Irish families and is one of Italy’s most popular holiday destinations.

Declan Lee, from Calry, Co Sligo, was staying at the campsite with his wife and their two daughters, aged eight and six, when they were woken up at 6am on Sunday morning by a frantic warning that a fire had broken out nearby.

“So we were asleep in our cabin and we heard a rapping on the door, quite aggressive, got up and basically just somebody shouting ‘fire, fire’.

“We went to the door. I figured, it’s probably just something small, but when we actually had a look out, you could see it above the trees and it had kind of taken off quite fast,” he said.

“A lot of the infrastructure here is wooden and a lot of the trees, I suppose it’s autumn as well. So a lot of it is, I suppose, could go up in flames quite quickly.”

Mr Lee immediately began preparing to evacuate his family.

“So quickly woke the kids, woke my wife, grabbed passports, just mobile phone chargers, anything we could get quickly,” he said.

The family got into their car and attempted to leave the resort, but encountered further difficulties as the fire had started near the campsite’s main entrance and exit.

“The issue was the fire actually started where the main entrance and exit is out of the camping site,” he explained.

“So we drove around out to the other side of the resort to try and find a gate to get out. The other gate on the other side was locked, there were several other cars trying to get out at the same time.”

The family eventually left the site, after fellow campers managed to force open a gate.

“A couple of the people who’ve been staying there had forced the gate open. So cars were able to actually get out again at that point,” he said.

The Lees then drove away from the campsite and monitored developments online while emergency services battled the blaze. The fire was eventually brought under control and campers were allowed to return to the site on foot several hours later. Police are investigating the cause of the blaze.

“I think it wiped out about 20 or 30 cabins in total, two rows away from us. It was quite close in the end,” Mr Lee said.

Recalling the ordeal, he said his main concern was getting his family to safety.

“Initial thoughts were just let’s grab what we can. At least we were in a car, we could get out of there and we could drive away from it,” he said.

“Trying to get the kids into the car when all they can see above the trees is the flames, it’s quite traumatic for them, to be honest, probably for all of us.”

Although the family escaped unharmed, Mr Lee said the incident has been particularly difficult for his two young daughters, who are still trying to process what happened ahead of their return home to Ireland on Tuesday.

“We’re okay. Myself and my wife are fine. Well, we’re getting on with it. The kids are just, it’s just questions and questions and questions. Is the fire coming back? And what happens if the fire starts tonight and all that,” he said.

While their accommodation was spared, Mr Lee said a substantial section of the campsite was destroyed.

“We got back to our cabin. We were able to have some element of normality, but I mean, it’s burnt to the ground quite a significant area of that campsite so we’re trying to keep the kids away obviously from seeing that.”