Moments of fear in Rome, where on Sunday afternoon a fire broke out in a fourth-floor apartment in the Borgo Vittorio area. Firefighters were on site and saved two elderly spouses. It happened shortly after 3pm.
Two fire brigades from the Prati and Ostiense offices rushed to the site of the fire, along with a ladder truck from the Nomentano headquarters, a tarpaulin wagon and a self-contained breathing apparatus wagon.
Rescue operations were concentrated in the stairwell. Once inside, the flames had already attacked a large part of the apartment and the operators worked to extinguish the fire with water cannons and breathing apparatus. During the rescue, two elderly spouses were saved. Both were handed over to the care of 118. Reclamation operations on the site are still underway and the causes that started the fire are yet to be ascertained. According to initial findings, the fire started due to a turned-on hairdryer left on the mattress.
Without ladder trucks
Luca Antonazzo, Rome secretary of Conapo, the firefighters’ union, spoke on the case: “The Rome firefighters who intervened operated with extreme professionalism and saved two people. The use of the ladder truck was fundamental, the one in However, the very nearby Prati detachment remained in the garages due to the downgrading of that location due to the lack of personnel. Firefighters with ladder trucks therefore had to arrive from the fire brigade headquarters in Via Genova, still today the wheel of fortune. ladder trucks in Rome worked thanks to the selflessness of the firefighters, but we cannot continue in this way, the citizens of Rome must have certainties about their safety”.
Antonazzo explains “we systematically launch complaints and appeals that are ignored, yet Minister Piantedosi is an expert on safety and Undersecretary Prisco knows the world of firefighters and public rescue well. We need government intervention, not relying on luck and trust in the decisive professionalism of our staff who certainly cannot take on the miracles and shortcomings of politics”.
