“No risk of explosion. But of a much larger blaze”

The question is obligatory. In light of what happened, could the Coil distributor have exploded? Could the consequences, also for the surrounding homes in the dock district, but also for motorists, passers-by and workers of neighboring businesses, have been more severe? We asked the provincial fire brigade commander, Antonio Petitto (photo).

Commander, was there a lack of priming, such as the presence of gas? Isn’t that why everything blew up?

“There was a trigger: it was the lighter and the paper that were set on fire. The issue is another. What burns is not the petrol, but the vapor that the petrol generates and mixes with the air. This creates a vapor cloud that disperses into the air. The larger the vapor cloud, the larger the resulting fire.”

And in this case what happened?

“That man immediately set fire to the petrol spilled on the ground, which essentially did not have time to evaporate. Not surprisingly, the blaze was relatively short and burned out quickly. Our team did not have to work on the When we intervened, the fire had already been extinguished. What remained to be made safe was the damage to the system, the dispensers and the column that dispenses the banknotes”.

Therefore, for there to be a danger of an explosion, some time must pass.

“Not of an explosion, I repeat, but of a larger fire. The more time the petrol is given to evaporate, the more the cloud that is created, if it catches fire, can generate a large blaze. And in that case, yes, invest everything you have ‘is around, objects and people.

Under the square set on fire there are fuel tanks. Could those have exploded, or caught fire?

“Absolutely not, the tanks are designed and built with safety systems that do not allow air to form flammable mixtures inside the tanks themselves.”

From the videos of the witnesses, at a certain point the operator can be seen carrying out some manoeuvres. Could this have helped limit the damage?

“Each operator has the power to implement the most basic safety system, interrupt the electricity supply, which in turn interrupts the power supply and therefore the fuel leakage.”

Lorenzo Priviato