Students’ Forest Fire Nightmare: Two Italian Students Have Been Fined a Combined €13.5m After a Barbeque

30 under 30 rising stars of 2019

Inc magazine has published its latest 30 under 30 list of rising stars for 2019. All are entrepreneurs who, as Inc puts it, have “kicked their companies into high-gear”.

They include Sheena Allen from Mississippi who has created CapWay, a financial technology app that helps poorer Americans look after their budgets, and Michael Krakaris, 24, who co-founded Deliverr, a startup which offers fast-shipping and has already signed up Walmart as a customer.  

Miles Pepper and Emma Cohen co-founded FinalStraw, a sustainable company that has created reusable silicone straws as a means of combating plastic pollution and has already raised $5m. Then there’s Francis Davidson who helped found alternative rental platform Sonder, which is like Airbnb but leases entire apartment buildings so guests can enjoy access to amenities like gyms and office space. 

Meanwhile, applications will close for the Inc 5000 on May 3 which will rank the fastest-growing private companies in the US. 

Youth vote on climate change

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has urged young adults to vote with the environment on their mind in the upcoming European parliamentary elections.

The 16-year-old Swede, who made headlines last summer by going on school strike to protest a lack of action over climate change, said the May elections were “a good way for young people to influence law-making against global warming”.

Speaking in front of the European parliament’s environment committee, she said that young Europeans students “should be very proud of themselves” for taking part in school strikes making headlines across Europe.

Tens of thousands of French, German, British, Irish and Spanish students have refused to attend classes on Fridays in response to Thunberg’s speeches.

Over the Easter weekend, the young activist travelled to London to address the Extinction Rebellion environmental protest that has gripped the city. Hundreds of people, both young and old, have been arrested during the protests, which have seen bridges closed, the BBC blockaded and activists strip naked in the Houses of Parliament.  

Students’ forest fire nightmare

Two Italian students have been fined a combined €13.5m after a barbeque at one of their family homes in Como went badly wrong.

A fire started by embers from their barbecue quickly spread and soon destroyed 6,840 square metres of forest. Local regulations demand a fine of €118–€593 per square metre, leading to the huge fine issued by the forestry office.

The story was initially reported by La Stampa newspaper and has since gone on to be covered by the BBC and others. The students, both men aged 22, told La Stampa that they were sorry for the blaze but had done everything they could to prevent it spreading, “we immediately alerted the fire brigade and threw ourselves at the flames to try and put them out,” they said.

But they also claimed that the fire had multiple sources, “we are the scapegoats of a fire that cannot be explained. We are the real victims of this story.”

Prosecutors said that the monstrous fine was designed to be a deterrent to force people to ensure they take better care of the environment. But the students’ lawyer argued that it was senseless to impose a huge fine that they could not possibly pay.

Photo: Shutterstock

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