A lifetime of work disappeared in a cloud of smoke. At 5.30 yesterday morning a large fire affected the Laresol company in via Primo Maggio in Tavarnelle. After three hours some parts of the industrial warehouse were still on fire with firefighters busy keeping the situation under control. The alarm was raised by some residents of the neighborhood just outside the historic center of Tavarnelle. They saw the flames rising high and called for help. Within a very short time, the firefighters of San Casciano and teams from the Florence headquarters, from the Fi-Ovest detachment, and from the Poggibonsi detachment intervened. In total there were three teams, three tankers, a ladder truck and the air wagon. Firefighters limited the flames to a warehouse but the tongues of fire caused part of the roof to collapse. The 118 ambulance was also called, but fortunately there were no injuries since the factory had not yet opened. In tears, the Laresol partners (Lorenzo and Riccardo Panti, Mirko and Sonia Marchioni), astonished, watched the firefighters coming and going and wondered how it could have happened. Among the first hypotheses is that of a short circuit in an electrical panel. But it all needs to be verified. “We work on it, four partners and a worker, we are all here” said Lorenzo Panti. “We produce lampante oil from diatomaceous earth, waste from oil bottling. We extract the lampante which is then sent to the refineries” he added. It is still difficult to quantify the damage: the plants and part of the finished product went up in smoke. Massimo Salvianti of Arca Azzurra is also worried as the warehouse with the costumes and sets of the theater company is located in the structure. “It looks like the fire didn’t get there, maybe just a little water,” Salvianti said. Mayor David Baroncelli, the municipal police and the carabinieri also arrived on site. Arpat technicians also arrived in the morning for checks related to environmental aspects. Thanks also to the weather conditions, characterized by wind and rain, which favor the dispersion of fumes, there is no accumulation of the substances emitted into the atmosphere. However, the mayor invited “residents in the surrounding homes to keep their windows closed”.
