Few firefighters and increasingly elderly: “Reinforcements are needed in Sardinia”

Sassari

Pietro Nurra (Conapo) raises an alarm: “Impossible to manage multiple emergencies at the same time”

The battle against fire cannot be won by continuing to ask for overtime from those who face it on the front line. A few days after the large fire that broke out in the Sarroch countryside, Pietro Nurra, regional secretary of the Conapo union, raised the alarm: “There is little time left until the start of the firefighting campaign, and in Sardinia there are 250 firefighters missing. We need immediate hiring to increase the number of young team leaders, drivers and police officers.”

“We witness every day, in almost all the Commands in the region, the downsizing of the rescue system,” says Nurra. “The Fire Brigade needs new hires to fill the current staff shortage and the one that is being created following the numerous retirements. The solution certainly cannot be the use of overtime, which has now become customary to guarantee public assistance.”

According to the regional secretary of Conapo it is not just a problem of numbers, but also of seniority: the average age of the staff exceeds 52 years. Departure leaders, who carry out operational service, do so until they are 60 years old. “Unlike other bodies, we do not have an organization that allows, once an age limit has been reached, to be re-employed in other non-operational activities” continued Nurra. “The turnover is clearly insufficient to rebalance staff retirements. Between 2024 and 2025 there will be a peak in retirements and hiring is being done slowly, we need an increase in the number of units to be sent to courses, we are significantly behind, given that the training of a firefighter lasts 9 months”.

Firefighter, among other things, is a generic definition: within the Corps there are many specializations. “The diving unit also has staff shortages: in the Sassari unit there are 18-20 units, in the Cagliari unit at least a dozen. From sea to sky”, continues the secretary of Conapo, “the flight department should have 12 pilots, according to the staffing plan, but instead there are only 7, with staff shortages also among the technical and air rescue staff. Here too, some retirements are on the way.”

In the Command of Cagliari (metropolitan city) in addition to the staff shortages, it is now essential to establish a headquarters for better territorial coverage, in Pula, already requested by the trade unions. “We call on local institutions to support this claim, also in light of the latest event that occurred in that area”, recalled Pietro Nurra. “It is also necessary to upgrade the category of the Carbonia office to SD4. On Iglesias the actual units from the upgrade of the SD5 headquarters are still missing (around 12 units) and in the entire Command 47 units will retire in the current year”.

“TO Sassari, in addition to the significant staff shortages, in particular for team leaders, the Command is undersized”, says the trade unionist, “both in relation to the extension of the territory and its peculiarities. We have one of the largest provinces in Italy, with two airports and many ports. At present, over 50 specialists and around 20 policemen are missing. In Olbia there is still no assignment of actual units to upgrade the SD5 headquarters (around 12) and over the course of the year, to aggravate the situation at the Command, there will be around 15 retirements”.

By changing province, the problems do not change: “The Command of Nuoro suffers from a shortage of qualified people of around 15 units and a dramatic shortage of technical logistics management personnel, necessary for the administrative activities of the Command): the unfilled positions in some sectors are close to 80%. Also to Oristano around 25 qualified units and around 15 more policemen would be needed”.

“As is easily understandable,” says Pietro Nurra, “the staff bends over backwards to guarantee the population the right standard of assistance. But what would have happened if in Olbia, during the fire at the dealership, a serious accident or fire had occurred, for example, in the hospital? In other situations there is a different inter-provincial support, here the difficulties are aggravated by the insular factor: to get reinforcements from the continent it takes at least 24/36 hours”.

“Sardinia has to deal with large distances and a road network that has limits,” concluded the regional secretary of Conapo. “A concomitance of multiple interventions does not allow coverage with adequate time. There is a need for a political stance at all levels, so that Sardinia is recognized as having adequate personnel for the territorial needs, aggravated by its insularity”.

Friday, April 19, 2024