By John Phillips

ROME

A woodland fire caused hours of delays for hundreds of passengers at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci Airport on Friday, coinciding with the peak holiday rush and the city’s hottest July in 150 years.

Passengers chanted "shame" and exchanged angry words with airport officials as flights were delayed and cancelled after a nearby blaze sent smoke billowing across runways at one of the world’s busiest airports.

Fabrizio Palenzona, president of ADR, the company that manages Rome’s airports, rejected criticism of his management, denouncing "groundless attacks" and pledging that he "will not stop" working to improve services.

However, the disruption comes at a time when Rome’s Mayor Ignazio Marino is facing calls for resignation over poor traffic and waste services that have fuelled growing public anger.

About 100 passengers who arrived from Turin at 5 a.m. (1500GMT) complained their flights to Sicily had been diverted to Rome and there was no connecting flight to take them to their destination, turning what should have been a brief domestic journey into a nine hour ordeal.

The ENAC civil aviation authority said the situation was returning to normal at the airport, also known as Fiumicino Airport, but continuing delays were inevitable.

Meanwhile, investigators probing the fire that started on Wednesday evening, forcing passengers to wait for hours on runways in temperatures above 35C (95F), said the blaze was not deliberately started to disrupt the airport, which handled 36.4 million passengers last year.

The blaze followed an electrical fire in May that closed down one terminal for weeks.

Forest guards were trying to determine if the latest fire was caused deliberately or set off by someone tossing a cigarette end into the pine forest by the airport, Forest Guard National Commander Cesare Patrone said.