Desenzano Fire Volunteers: 40 Sign Up to Form New Detachment
The volunteers – around forty – are already in place; the fire brigade detachment in Desenzano can be established. This was the outcome of the meeting held Tuesday evening at the Tourism Palace, promoted by the spontaneous committee.
It might have been the skill of the speakers, the enthusiasm of the promoters, or perhaps the events of September 11 that, amidst such horror, highlighted the value and the work of firefighters, but the promoting committee already has 40 men available.
The Twin Towers of New York in flames, the tireless firefighters risking their lives to save others, the memory of the fire brigade commander, Italian-American Ganci, the bravest, the dusty faces of rescuers: all images summarized by one attendee as follows: “When others step back, firefighters step forward; when others retreat, they advance; when others are saved, they may perish.”
Interventions and Support
The enthusiasm of the audience – many of whom are young people – was reinforced by the speakers’ interventions.
On stage, there were successive presentations by Ambrogio Ponterio, officer of the National Fire Brigade, representing engineer Luigi Biscardi, provincial commander of Brescia’s fire brigade; Enrico Masi, fire brigade squad chief of the Salò detachment; Antonio Rondi, national councilor of the National Firefighters Association.
The moderator was the Desenzano native Alberto Pizzoccolo, a probable future head of the volunteer fire brigade detachment, engineering student with significant volunteer experience in civil protection and medical rescue.
Project and Memberships
Among the primary needs for realizing this ambitious project was obtaining approval and support from the Provincial Fire Brigade Command.
This support was granted during the assembly, and it will be the provincial command that provides equipment to the volunteers.
After securing professional approval, the other requirement for launching the initiative was to find at least 20 volunteers aged between 18 and 45, willing to attend a 120-hour technical training course and, most importantly, ready to dedicate time and enthusiasm to the courageous activities carried out by firefighters daily.
The audience, consisting of about seventy people, responded beyond the organizers’ expectations, and instead of twenty volunteers, forty emerged.
The forty then signed a letter to be sent to the mayors of Desenzano, Sirmione, Lonato, Padenghe, and Pozzolengo, inviting them to submit an official application to the Fire Brigade Provincial Command of Brescia to start the procedural process for establishing the detachment.
The municipalities should then mobilize to provide suitable premises and facilitate the creation of the new detachment, most likely in Desenzano, whose territory is central to the municipalities involved in the initiative.
The need to create this detachment is strongly felt both by the firefighters themselves and by the citizens, including many from Sirmione, who currently rely on the valuable services of those in Salò, Castiglione, and the main Brescia headquarters.
The volunteers hope to activate the detachment as early as next year, and soon anyone interested in learning more about the initiative can visit the website www.vigilidelfuocodesenzano.it.
Not making the most of this enthusiasm and good will would be a shame.
