After nine months of training, the 11th firefighter training course will soon be completed. At the end of the educational path, 13 firefighter candidates and one female firefighter candidate, once they have passed the exams, will become part of the Permanent Fire Brigade Corps of Bolzano. The president of the Province and councilor for Civil Protection, Arno Kompatscher, and the councilor for Forestry Luis Walcher were able to get to know firsthand the different phases involved in the rescue operations during the exercise held on the hill of Monte Imperiale (Kaiserberg), in Castel Firmian.
Also present was the director of the Civil Protection Agency Klaus Unterweger. For the first time, drones were used which, through radio communication, received instructions from the staff on the ground.
“Firefighters aspire to a profession that also represents a vocation, since it will be their task to work for the well-being and protection of the population during rescue operations”, President Kompatscher wanted to underline: “You have already completed instructive training, tiring and demanding – he continued – part of this intense program still awaits you”, added Kompatscher, addressing future professional firefighters. Today the collaboration between the provincial forestry corps and the firefighters of the Permanent Corps of Bolzano is being put into practice in view of the future forest fire season”, remarked the provincial councilor Luis Walcher.
“Last year in Alto Adige 33 forest fires and brush burnings were recorded, which affected a total area of 28.4 hectares of forest”, specified Rainer Ploner, director of the Bolzano 1 forestry inspectorate. The average for each fire was nearly one hectare (0.87 hectares). This data can be traced back to the timely intervention of all rescue forces, firefighting teams and forestry personnel.
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