Venice - "By next year, any staffing shortages for the Fire Brigade will be addressed by filling positions advertised for the Venice office under the 'Internal selection procedure for the filling of 45 positions for access to the role of engine room crew of the National Corps, based on qualifications and successful completion of a professional training course for the acquisition of a deck nautical license.'"
Undersecretary of the Interior, Emanuele Prisco, made this statement in response to questions from Ettore Rosato (Azione) regarding various issues facing the Venice Fire Department. Specifically, the parliamentarian asked about staffing, the "restoration of vessels currently idled," and the allocation of "extraordinary resources, opening a dedicated budget for the lagoon fire department, given the unique and fragile nature of the Venetian context."
A question also focused on risk and hardship compensation for the lagoon fire service, and whether a regulatory amendment is being considered to establish its amount and stability over time.
Regarding the watercraft used in the Venice lagoon, Prisco explained that the rescue service is carried out with fast boats, the so-called APL (Autopompe lagunari): these are prototypes, "intentionally open" to be able to cross the city's bridges in all tidal conditions, "and must be easily maneuverable within the city's narrowest canals."
Rosato pointed out that these vehicles “expose operators to extreme weather conditions including strong winds, rain, rough seas, freezing temperatures, and intense heat without adequate protective equipment.”
There is no mass production of APLs, and their use is limited to the Venice lagoon. Given the unique characteristics of its territory, "to deal with breakdowns and damage (resulting in periods of outage due to collisions with shallow waters, submerged objects, banks, and other causes)," the Venice office has a number of vessels "more than double the minimum operational configuration, ensuring adequate maintenance rotation and adequate backup in the event of a breakdown. Therefore, APL outages are planned and necessary to perform routine and extraordinary maintenance," Prisco added.
The current fleet consists of eight APLs, two motorboats, and a raft. For Venice, a search is underway for "suitable premises" to house the equipment "with a view to speeding up and simplifying manual transport," and the purchase of "alpine and river caving harnesses" is underway to compensate for the inability to use ladder trucks.
Finally, risk and hardship allowances for the lagoon fire service. "Precisely to provide financial compensation to personnel assigned to the specific lagoon service, since 2020, the annual national supplementary agreements regarding the distribution of management savings from the Administration Fund have provided for specific compensation for personnel not belonging to specialized roles who have performed the function of operating watercraft for which a boating license is required," states Prisco's response, seen by 'Dire'.
As for the possibility of a specific additional emolument, this will require negotiations with the unions, "but the administration reserves the right to include this specific provision in the new agreement."
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
It's important that the firefighters in Venice have the support they need to operate safely, but I wonder if the resources are actually arriving and how everything will be managed for the boats and weather conditions.