«The first deaths related to the heatUnfortunately. And they impose on the utmost attention. The Red Bollini system is important, just stop some working activities at risk. But perhaps the system should be reviewed, rethinking the working hours, perhaps anticipating the start of 5 in the morning, exploiting the less hot periods of the day ».
Fabio Ciciliano is the head of the Civil Protection And look with concern at the next days. It will be a long summer. With the risk of fires and with the unknowns of an event such as the Jubilee of young people scheduled from 28 July to 3 August in Rome. In the final appointment, in the leakage of Tor Vergata, there will be 500 thousand boys from all over the world without there being areas of shadow. If the temperatures are similar to those of these days it will be a ordeal.
How much are you worried about this heat wave?
“Look, I just got back from Riad, in Saudi Arabia, where there were 49 degrees. I’m afraid I have seen our near future. There they organized themselves. Outside you work in the early hours of the morning and in the evening. Even in Italy we must now update the way of thinking, we must adapt to a change that is already evident and take example from this type of countries. The deaths that we record must lead us to review the work shifts ».
Another alarm bell sparked from nearby Catalonia: due to a huge fire there were two victims. In the hearing in the Commission he spoke of the lack of fire -fighting vehicles in some areas of Italy.
«Three regions without the forest fire air fleet. It is a regional competence with the National Competition of the Civil Protection Department. These regions are Molise, Umbria and Puglia. The first two never competed, Puglia made three procedures that however went deserted. Therefore, they are without helicopters to turn off the fires. Umbria and Molise are not very extensive and are close to where Canadair and the other state forces are located that contribute to the operations to turn off the fires. For Puglia the discussion is different ».
How many canadair in Italy are there?
«Once they were ours, now they passed to the firefighters. We finance the support of this fleet with several tens of millions every year. We have 18 and we are the country with the highest number in Europe ».
Didn’t the siege of the fires begin in massive form?
«We have stretched the times of the campaign against forest fires. Summer atmospheric phenomena have become much more important because we have higher temperatures. And above all these phenomena last longer. With the soring season, the ability to protect the territory is reduced, it is easier for fire to develop. For the next few weeks we are worried, we are in an ascending phase, of pre-alert. In a single day of the end of June, to give an example, there were nineteen requests for national support for firefighting ».
When we talk about information on the heat, it is spontaneous to ironic because the advice is always the same and repetitive.
«As a civil protection on the heat we make a communication campaign focused on the promotion of virtuous behavior also through regional systems. Let’s call them good practices. To say that elderly people must not expose themselves to the heat at certain times may appear trivial, but it is important. We invite you to use air conditioning systems, even if there is a fear of side effects that we have already seen in some cities with localized blackouts ».
What is expected for the next few weeks?
«The most difficult days, for the heat, must arrive. I am very worried about the Jubilee of young people from 28 July to 3 August in Rome. In Tor Vergata, in particular, on 2 and 3 August, we risk having hundreds of thousands of boys exposed to the very high temperatures of that period without there being a corner of shadow. We commissioned the Italian army to the acquisition of dozens of nebulizers who are normally used to break down dust during the demolitions of buildings. These “cannons” shoot one hundred meters, we must understand how many will need it and how to position them ».
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