“Regionalized” firefighters? In the aftermath of the approval of the Differentiated Autonomy – amid opposition protests and announcements of appeals by some governors – Gianpaolo Bottancin, Venetian councilor for the environment, launched the proposal in a post which, however, was not welcomed with much enthusiasm by those directly involved. “Tonight (June 19, ed.) parliament voted on the first measure for #autonomy. Among the subjects that can be transferred without the definition of lep (essential performance levels) they have also included #Civil protection. The request that I formalized for the Veneto some time ago is a model similar to the one present in the autonomous province of Trento, with regionalized #firefighters. On the other hand, firefighters are the “fundamental component of the civil protection system”, as stated in the civil protection code. This is the request that I will have the opportunity to recall today in the commission.” But if there is a body that all Italians count on and trust in a total and united manner, it is precisely that of the firefighters.
The first no comes from the union itself and for reasons that are clear to everyone: that is, interventions in the event of calamities and disasters in which the firefighters are involved, even outside the regional territory. always more often. “No to the regionalization of the National Fire Brigade, it would be a serious mistake and damage to the Italian public emergency system – says Ernesto Magliocchetti, secretary for the Veneto of the conapo union -. It is useless for the Veneto Councilor for the Environment and Civil Protection Gianpaolo Bottaccin to make a comparison with the firefighters of the province of Trento which are a very different reality with reduced functions compared to the National Corps, made up mostly of volunteers and which is not structured to deal with the large mobilizations that are necessary to deal with national emergencies. It is unfortunate that councilor Bottacin has a reduced view from his observatory of the Veneto and does not also evaluate the interoperability needs of firefighters throughout the national territory, something that is envied by the whole world and which certainly cannot succumb to the desire for regional autonomy. Let’s not confuse civil protection with public assistance, the first is a shared matter between the state and the regions, the second is one species of public security and the constitution reserves it to the State which implements it through the Ministry of the Interior”. In short, the proposal was returned to the sender with a lot
A firm “no” to the regionalization of the Fire Brigade and the invitation to the Minister of the Interior to clarify this hypothesis also comes from the mayor of Ravenna and president of the same province, Michele de Pascale, probably for “neighborhood” reasons. “Veneto asks for the regionalization of the Fire Brigade. Does differentiated autonomy lead to this? Minister Piantedosi immediately denies it.” These days, “a year ago – points out de Pascale – if there hadn’t been a fire brigade with unique procedures and equipment throughout Italy we would have experienced a real ‘Caporetto’ in Romagna. I want to remember the 40,000 men who arrived from all over Italy between June and August 2023, the over 25,000 rescue interventions, 36,000 vehicles used, over 9000 rescues: impressive numbers, and behind the numbers organization and efficiency that depend on consolidated and homogeneous national procedures throughout Italy”. Things, he argues, that “the Ravenna community does not forget: this is why it conferred the Honorary citizenship to the engineer Carlo Dall’Oppio, Head of the National Fire Brigade, and will never stop thanking the firefighters who, together with the other intervention forces and the Civil Protection, managed the emergency with professionalism, commitment and self-denial, guaranteeing safety for our communities” . Therefore, concludes the mayor of Romagna, “I really can’t understand what the advantage would be of dismembering this great excellence that the world envies us to create 20 small regional bodies”.
