” The peculiarity of this emergency is that the fires started in several places and then joined together ”. Carlo Metelli, provincial commander of the Reggio Calabria Fire Brigade, traces with the Adnkronos the picture of the situation of the fires that have ravaged the Region for days. ” We had very high temperatures and in this province it hasn’t rained for 5-6 months, so the vegetation is dry – explains Metelli – This mix has increased susceptibility ”. Yesterday at this time the firefighters had opened 54 interventions, a record for the command of Reggio Calabria. ” A situation – underlines the commander – not known in living memory here in Reggio Calabria, where there is a command used to deal with forest fires. I believe it never happened. The good thing is that today it is a little less hot and the wind has stopped, so we are seeing a significant decrease in interventions. Right now we are managing 16 cards which is an important number but nothing compared to what happened yesterday. The operations room staff were also exhausted last night. ” The fires have been giving no respite to Calabria since the end of July. ” My command is stressed – he says – we doubled the staff on several occasions from the end of July until 6 August, when our National Operations Center sent us fresh forces from Northern Italy: mobile columns from Lombardy, Piedmont, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Emilia Romagna and yesterday, after the critical situation, we had the support of four other operational sections, that is, another 36 units that come from Marche, Tuscany, Lazio and Emilia Romagna ”. ” We usually have around 70 people on duty as ordinary staff, at the moment there are 190, so we have more than doubled the number of forces, ” he adds. On the current situation, the fire brigade commander underlines that “at the moment the teams are engaged in the Municipality of San Luca, where the Aspromonte national park is burning”. ” In addition to the Calabria Verde teams, there are a special operational group and two fire brigade teams – he says – The area is very large and has a great environmental value. In the area of Grotteria and Mammola the flames are approaching the inhabited centers and in the Municipality of San Giovanni di Gerace, we are also working with the support of the area fleet. At the moment there are two Canadair in action, one of which is from the French fleet. ” ” At 1.30 pm – Metelli says – the French Canadians, who were returning from Greece, were brought down to Lamezia Terme with supplies and are helping us in the Calabria Region ”. ” The other slightly critical point yesterday, where the situation improved today, is that of Cardeto. There the fire persists and is in a higher position, therefore less dangerous for the inhabited center but always important from a landscape and environmental point of view – he specifies – on site we have two teams and one of our firefighting operations director ”. But these are the most challenging fronts. ” The command – concludes Metelli – in addition to these interventions has been involved in a myriad of smaller interventions that have heavily drained the resources and for this we have had reinforcements ”. (by Giorgia Sodaro)
