Carabinieri police, firefighters, regional officers and some 100 civil protection volunteers worked to contain the flames, along with three Canadair aircrafts and a helicopter, in the areas of Ottaviano, Trecase and Torre del Greco.

One of the fires tearing across the Naples area completely destroyed a local forest range precinct in Trecase, local officials said on Wednesday.

Regional protection authorities said a total of 927 fires have been reported between June 15 and July 10 this year in the Campania region around Naples, compared to 158 over the same period in 2016.

Meanwhile in Sicily, bushfires that devastated Messina at the beginning of the week were contained on Wednesday.

Other fires were reported in Milazzo, Giardini and Gaggi and on the island of Lipari, where several hectares of land were burned by the flames.

Local police are investigating whether the fires were caused by arsonists or by higher-than-average temperatures and dry terrain.

Overall, firefighter crews as of Tuesday night had carried out 1,130 operations to contain fires across Italy, authorities said.

Sicily registered the highest number of operations, 458, followed by the southern regions of Puglia with 241, Calabria with 226 and Campania with 221.

The Lazio region around Rome recorded 214 such operations.

With ANSA