Via Pietro Gori

Firefighters at work in Via Pietro Gori. (Photo taken last Sunday)
Vigili del fuoco al lavoro in via Pietro Gori. (Foto scattata la scorsa domenica)

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Post 3,649 of 3,665 - This blog will end on December 31st

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Our farewell / Il nostro saluto

At Sea with the Fire Brigade

Exploring the harbor with the Fire Brigade.
Esplorando il porto con i Vigili del Fuoco.

Truck on Display

A truck of the Fire Department on display in Piazza Cavour.
Un automezzo dei Vigili del Fuoco in mostra, in piazza Cavour.

Fire Brigade Divers

A RIB of the divers of the Vigili del Fuoco (Fire Brigade).
Un gommone dei sommozzatori dei Vigili del Fuoco.

VF RIB

A RIB of the Vigili del Fuoco (Fire Brigade) inside the Porto Mediceo.
Un gommone dei Vigili del Fuoco nel Porto Mediceo.

VF 1174

Darsena Vecchia (Old Harbor): the 28-meter fireboat “VF 1174”, built in 1999 at the F.lli Giacalone shipyard in Mazara del Vallo.

See also: Old Harbor - View on the Old Harbor

Versione italiana

Burhan Dizman 3

A motorboat of the Vigili del Fuoco (Fire Brigade) along the side of the 120-meter Turkish cargo “Burhan Dizman 3”.

Versione italiana

Tornado

Yesterday, at about 7:30 AM, a small tornado hit the center of Livorno.
Damages were not substantial, but there was a lot of work for our firefighters.

More photos: Tornado in Livorno (Facebook album)
Search labels: firefighters

Versione italiana

Toxic Cloud

We already had a fire a couple of years ago, this time it was a toxic cloud of sorts which chased us away from our apartment last Sunday night. Firefighters searched the building and then the neighborhood until midnight, while an ambulance was ready for the worst. Eventually, we all went to sleep in our beds and nobody was seriously hurt.

See also: Theme Day: My Street

Versione italiana

Theme Day: My Street

Last September a fire erupted in an inner court threatening my apartment building and the whole block.

The smoke column was visible from all over town. My street was clogged with fire trucks and ambulances ...

... as it was the adjacent “Via Buontalenti”. Luckily no one suffered serious harm, but the building was evacuated for a while and several lower storey apartments reported some damages.

At last, even the mayor showed up to check on the situation. (Pictures taken on September 24th)

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

See also: Fire

Versione italiana

Fire

After detecting some smoke from the windows of this apartment, the Fire Brigade was promptly called by some passers-by. We are in the quarter of New Venice, you can see near the front of the fire engine the facade of the Palace of the Marble Columns.The firemen wear their self contained breathing apparatus.They begin to climb the ladder to go up in the bucket.From the window they flush what seems to be the main fire.Ready to go inside to check if someone is still in the apartment.It seems that nobody was there, so the worst part is now over.

Versione italiana

Bow & Stern

The stern of a boat of the “Vigili del Fuoco” (Fire Brigade) coming back to the old harbor, coasting the “Fortezza Vecchia”. It's not every day you see the bow of a ship coming straight toward you, even if she was only maneuvering and I was safe on a robust pier.Yesterday was a day of torrential rain, the first after months of dry weather. Summer is slowly going away taking with her the cruise ships, while the big yachts are coming home after a season of chartering around the Mediterranean.

Vigili del Fuoco

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.