Flames broke out shortly before 6:00 on Sunday, 4 October 2026, at the Bella Italia camping resort in Peschiera del Garda, situated on the southern shore of Lake Garda in the province of Verona. The five-star holiday complex was operating and housing numerous tourists when the fire originated in one of the bungalows. The fire spread through the lodging area, destroying or damaging between 20 and 30 mobile homes and bungalows. Several passenger vehicles and a camper van parked nearby were completely charred. Firefighting teams faced additional hazards as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canisters stored on the campsite exploded during the blaze, producing loud detonations that woke sleeping guests across the holiday village.

Emergency response and evacuation

Initial rescue efforts began before public emergency services reached the grounds. The campground night watchman intervened immediately upon seeing the smoke. Four off-duty volunteer firefighters from Dietzenbach in Hessen, Germany, who had arrived at the campsite on Saturday for a holiday, noticed the flames and began assisting. The four volunteers moved through the sector to awaken sleeping tourists, removed exposed gas canisters from the path of the flames, and assisted with early containment efforts. Regional emergency authorities dispatched 20 firefighters equipped with five response vehicles alongside six emergency vehicles from the Suem 118 medical service. Fire crews brought the fire under control following operations that lasted several hours. Veneto regional president Luca Zaia publicly thanked the four German volunteers for their assistance prior to the arrival of Italian units.

Code red (critical)1

Code yellow (moderate)7

Code green (minor)16

Code red (critical)

1 people

Code yellow (moderate)

7 people

Code green (minor)

16 people

Data from the article text

Casualties and medical treatment

A total of 24 individuals required medical treatment following the incident. Emergency medical teams classified one patient in code red with severe third-degree burns to the legs. Paramedics assigned seven victims to code yellow with moderate conditions, while 16 individuals received code green classification for minor injuries. Most hospital admissions involved smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. Among the tourists taken to the Pederzoli Hospital in Peschiera del Garda was a Swiss family with three children, part of a group of three injured minors. Local healthcare authorities activated a maxi-emergency protocol across territorial hospitals, though the patient with leg burns was stabilized at Pederzoli Hospital without requiring transfer to the specialized burn center at Borgo Trento in Verona.

Camping pitches400

Fixed rental accommodations1,300

Camping pitches

400 units

Fixed rental accommodations

1300 units

Data from the article text

Site infrastructure and cause investigation

The Bella Italia resort features approximately 400 camping pitches alongside roughly 1,300 fixed rental units, including apartments and mobile homes, serving as a primary lodging hub on Lake Garda for tourists from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Local police and fire investigators are conducting technical inspections to establish the origin of the blaze. Initial evidence points to an accidental ignition inside one of the bungalows before 6:00. Investigators are examining whether an open candle or a small camping stove used to repel mosquitoes ignited the surrounding structure. Inquiries by Italian authorities into the exact sequence of events remain ongoing.