Merate (Lecco) – As children, at least once, we all dreamed of being firefighters when we grew up. Like Grisù, the little dragon in the cartoon created by the brothers Nino and Toni Pagot, who at the end of each episode, turning to his father Fumè Draconis, exclaimed: “I’m sorry dad, but I’ll be a fireman, I’ll be a fireman, I’ll be a fireman”. For Chiara Monti, 20 year old student from Lecco, Grisù’s dream has become reality. She has been wearing it for six months the uniform of a volunteer firefighter. She is one of the four female firefighters and among the latest arrivals in the ranks of the Merate detachment.
Why did you become a firefighter?
“I wanted to help others, like my brother and sister. My brother is in the military, my sister is a nurse. But I don’t like weapons and I wouldn’t even be able to work in a hospital. So I chose to become a firefighter. I’ve always wanted it, ever since I was a child, when I watched TV series or films about firefighters”
It was hard?
“Physically it was for me. I had to train a lot, because during operations you have to know how to resist the heat and fatigue, be fast and precise and move with a lot of load on you, including uniform, safety equipment and rescue equipment.”
You are from Lecco. Why did you choose to serve at the Merate detachment?
“Because in Merate there is the Allievi group, the only one in the whole province, which supports those who are already firefighters, without naturally participating in operational activities”.
Which surgery did you enjoy doing the most?
“The rescue of a kitten, in Casatenovo. He got stuck in a tube and we freed him. Since he was a stray, I adopted him and brought him home with me. I called him Bagheera, like the panther of The Jungle Book”.
And what touched you the most negatively?
“It was a rescue operation for a twenty-year-old girl who took her own life. Unfortunately there was nothing more that could be done. When we arrived she was already dead. The mother’s screams of pain and desperation really shocked me. heartbroken. I can’t get them out of my ears, and above all from my mind and heart.”
Would you like to become a real firefighter?
“I don’t know. At the moment I’m thinking about finishing my high school diploma; I’m finishing the economic and social high school. Then I’d like to graduate in Geology. What’s stopping me is that, if I became an actual firefighter, I would be sent to a place far from home, while I would like to stay in the area.”
How many girls and women are you?
“There are four of us, out of around forty-five colleagues in total. Even though it is still a predominantly male environment, I still don’t feel at all uncomfortable. I personally have never noticed any difference between males and females, much less any discrimination.”
