MONTANARO. «It is a thrill to have managed to obtain a new firefighting vehicle for our detachment of volunteer firefighters in such a short time», is how the mayor of Montanaro Giovanni Ponchia anticipates the imminent arrival of a new fire engine. The vehicle is in fact expected in the next few days.
«After the recent inauguration of the new headquarters – adds Ponchia – the detachment has all the space to accommodate other vehicles, and therefore be able to intervene in emergency situations such as fires and accidents of greater severity than the previous potential. The new vehicle will have a tank of approximately two thousand liters of water and will be placed alongside the smaller one, a 300 liter emergency unit.” The obstacle to overcome was financial resources: for a vehicle of that kind, even used in good condition, at least 80 thousand are needed. For a new fire engine the cost is around 200 thousand euros, depending on the equipment. The mayor, a couple of weeks ago, had therefore signed a memorandum of intent with the mayors of the ten municipalities in the area, served by the detachment, for a total of 24,591 inhabitants. In addition to Montanaro, the fire brigade team intervenes in Caluso, Mazzè, Foglizzo, Montalenghe, Vische, Barone, Candia, Orio, Villareggia. The protocol was also shared by the representatives of the Provincial Command of the Fire Brigade (Roberto Tubere and Andrea Bellato) from the Piedmont Region, represented by Roberto Ravello and Franco De Giglio. «The document allows us – explains Ponchia – to have greater strength to participate in regional tenders aimed at strengthening the fleet of vehicles and the activities of the detachment. And a first important result was seen in record time.”
The new fire engine will come from the provincial command of Turin and should be able to benefit from a ministerial contribution, in addition to a fundraiser launched by the municipalities. Which we are organizing. – anticipates the head of the detachment Giovanni Veneruso-. It will be a vehicle that has only traveled a few kilometers so far – with equipment that allows us to intervene even in serious road accidents: it will have a spreader, shears, a winch, a chainsaw, a headlight column and an aluminum ladder. Three seats in the driver’s cab which must be occupied by a foreman and two firefighters”.
The vehicles supplied by the Montanaro detachment will become three: among these is an off-road vehicle to intervene in forest fires, while there are 14 firefighters on operational duty. The detachment carries out a 24-hour service on Saturdays and Sundays, while, being the other days of the week the volunteers answer calls from 7pm to 4am. The memorandum of intent had been signed in the new headquarters of the detachment: the ten mayors had expressed their support and laid the foundations for a solid collaboration between Municipalities for the conservation and development of the Montanaro volunteer fire brigade detachment, created at the end of Nineteenth century. Last year, however, the signing of the agreement between the Municipality and the fire brigade command for the use on loan of the former municipal warehouse which, at the end of the renovation work, became the headquarters of the operational detachment since last September. «It was a long and difficult job – recalls Ponchia – which saw an investment from the Municipality of 85 thousand euros, to which was added a regional contribution of 20 thousand euros». The old headquarters in via Caluso, built by the Municipality, was no longer up to code. Lydia Massia
