Nearly 400 people have been evacuated after wildfires raged Sunday on the island of Sardinia.

Firefighters said several homes were damaged in the Mediterranean island’s western interior region.

Civil protection authorities said a preliminary survey indicates 10,000 acres have been consumed by flames around Montiferru, near the centre of Italy’s second-largest island.

Fires rage through the countryside in Cuglier (Alessandro Tocco/LaPresse via AP)

Authorities evacuated 200 people from the town of Cuglieri overnight and another 155 from Sennariolo.

More than half of those evacuated in Cuglieri were allowed to return home on Sunday, the news agency ANSA reported.

Eleven aircraft were working to put out the flames, the head of the island’s civil protection agency, Antonio Belloi, told ANSA.

Efforts were being hampered by hot south-westerly winds, putting the fire danger level at “extreme”.