The “Vigili del Fuoco” are the italian equivalent of a Fire Department, organized on national level with local detachments. A large “caserma” (literally: barracks) hosts our Fire Brigade on the eastern outskirts of Livorno. Firefighters are now civilians but the term for their base has stuck from past times.
The Port of Livorno has its own station of firefighters in the “Darsena Vecchia” (Old Harbor), just opposite the Four Moors.
It is quite a common sight to spot one of the smaller boats patrolling the waters or checking out vessels refueling.
The “Vigili del Fuoco” have their divers ready to plunge in the not so clean waters of the port, for any emergency situation.
On the entrance of the Old Harbor fire station you can read their latin motto: “In audentia hilares”, literally “Merry in boldness”.I had the idea for this post reading a very good piece on Tampa Daily Photo about an old (but kept as new) fireboat. None of these boats is as lovely as it, but I like most of them anyway.
14 comments:
Good series, like them all!
Wow, I miss the sea and ports.
Have a nice weeknd:)
They do a fantastic job everywhere. Great shots, have a wonderful weekend!
what a good job they do. Great collage of photos.
A very interesting post once again:-) Love the action of the first photo. Are their service often called for?
@ m_m - The Coast Guard may do this, but not here: the only close foreign land is the French Corsica, Schengen Zone.
@ Christopher - Nothing major in recent times.
Great post! I love to see men in action ;-)
I like all these boats, too. And as I said in the Tampa post, these people are worth every dime...they are so important on the water and everywhere. I think too often firemen (and women) are unsung heroes!
Your photos are exemplary, VP!
My question has been answered :).
I never knew before about firefighters patrolling in waters.
I know you like boats, so I will have to approve to all these great boat shots.
That is just great. Thanks for alerting me. Terrific shots.
Unsung heroes, indeed. At least, the proximity to water should help make their job a bit easier.
@ Per - Ever seen a tanker ablaze? Check the post on Moby Prince...
There's a debate here about enforcing stricter separation between risky transports and passenger routes. We like to think that risk is finally under control in this day and age. It's not. Not by a long shot.
@ Per - You could have the best rules but a silly or distract behavior from a single man can doom a ship or a plane. Unconfirmed, but somewhat believable, sources said that the people in charge of the Moby were watching a football game during what was a routine trip, slamming against a tanker.
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