An Italian firefighter died and another was injured on Monday when they were overcome by fumes from one of dozens of wildfires raging in the country as a heatwave reaches its peak, officials said.

The man was killed in the Campania region near Naples, which has been the worst hit by forest fires this season with regional officials saying around 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of land have been scorched there this month.

The fire service reported there were a total of 155 forest fires across Italy on Sunday including in the central Tuscany and Lazio regions.

The civil protection agency said planes and helicopters had to be called out to 30 separate incidents times on Monday to help battle the blazes.