But people in the tiny district of Cannetto who have seen their washing machines, fridges and televisions spontaneously combust believe the explanation is man-made.

News of the unexplained fires spread to the rest of Italy over the weekend. Authorities from the electricity company ENEL and seismologists wielding sophisticated equipment normally used to monitor the volcanic activity of the island's Mount Etna descended on the district.

But Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist in the diocese of Rome and a world authority on demonic possession, believes they are wasting their time.

"What's going on here happens when the devil enters where we allow him to go," he warned the residents of Cannetto, a district of the town of Caronia in the province of Messina.

But the residents of Cannetto, a tiny tract of the town wedged between the railway and the Mediterranean, refuse to consider the homes possessed.

"We don't believe in the devil here," said the town's mayor Pedro Spinnato.

Locals are convinced they are more likely the victims of a pyromaniac than a pyschic phenomenon.

"We want two things; to know the truth and to receive damages for the things we have lost," said Nino Pezzino, a former local councillor.

Suspicion has fallen on the railway, which runs past the houses at the foot of a cliff.

"What we know is that the fires start just before a train is due to pass," Pezzino said.

Professor Giuseppe Maschio of the University of Messina believes the fires may have something to do with an electromagnetic field.

"If the results are negative, we must then exclude this hypothesis along with those of seismic phenomena," said Maschio.

Oddly, the fires stopped on Tuesday, once the experts arrived and cut the commune's electricity supply.

Meanwhile, the local authority have evacuated 17 families to a local hotel while their inquiries continue.

TERRA.WIRE