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ANCONA – The noise of the port that works at night in Guasco is a continuous background. So in the first explosion, around midnight on Tuesday, the concern was relative. The second and third explosions, in rapid succession, were instead the alarm bell. The glow of the flames and the column of smoke that immediately rose did the rest: the port in flames, the old area of Tubimar burns. Thirty minutes after midnight, under the arches of via Marconi, a swarm of people, mostly foreigners: workers and fishermen divided. Who goes to the Mandracchio and the old Fishing Fair; who goes up the shaft ramp to see hell from above. The first barrier, at midnight and a half, is carried out by a Guardia di Finanza patrol that, at the junction with the marina, prevents access.
The bombing
“All back,” the green berets shout. After the firefighters, they were the first to arrive on the scene, as soon as they left the barracks on the seafront in via Vanvitelli: for them, too, the glow of the flames was the compass with which to orient themselves. In addition to reporters and photographers, the curious. Many shoot with their mobile phone, others call home: in distant countries the images of the port of Ancona appear in flames even before they appear in the news. Up to 10 meters high, tongues of fire emerge from the three sheds just in front of the bypass flyover; the wind pushes the fire towards the other industrial sites, the fire front widens. On the ceilings, reddish glows illuminate the black clouds of smoke: they ignite announced by a loud roar. The front of the Ancona fire brigade expands to those of the airport with even more powerful means: shortly after one o’clock, a small column takes the axis against the current so as not to waste time. A timid applause of support rises from the crowd. There is also the specialized medium of the Nbcr nucleus, which underlines the exceptional character of the moment. Two truckers with the truck in the parking lot are desperate: they can’t get through either. Firefighters surround the building, hydrants shoot water, there is fear that the roof will collapse, that it will partially fall. It is the moment when everything seems to be in balance: will they succeed? Someone, looking out of the open windows in the hell of the port or in the screens of the smartphones that send direct through social networks, fears a Beirut effect, a catastrophic explosion. Firefighters, however, succeed, even if it will take several hours to be sure.
The longest night in Ancona after the 82 landslide
The longest night in Ancona, after the landslide that caused the Posatora hill to slide into the sea on December 13, 1982, ends around four o’clock, when the fire officer who coordinates the extinction operations declares that Afterwards, the fire is confined to the old Tubimar enclosure, although a whole day will not be enough to put out the last lights. The sigh of relief, meanwhile, refers to the domino effect avoided by the excess work of the firefighters (50 men and 30 vehicles), since the flames were driven by the wind to the north, in the direction of a methane distributor and to the deposit. de Sol Spa, which produces compressed and liquefied gas cylinders. Meanwhile, however, the flames, which walked rapidly on the roof, burning the panels of the photovoltaic system, spread over a covered area of approximately 4 hectares. Two thirds of the former Tubimar area (60 thousand square meters in total) owned by the Port System Authority, which has entrusted the management to 11 concessionaires that operate in the maxi-warehouse, with warehouses for logistics activities, three warehouses for construction naval, one for mobile platforms. The flames, also fueled by bales of polyurethane foam, mainly damaged warehouses managed by the logistics companies Ase of the Morandi group and Frittelli Maritime Group of the port entrepreneur Alberto Rossi. At the Torrette regional hospital we had prepared for the worst, triggering the internal emergency plan due to the massive influx of injured people, but fortunately the final toll only counts two firefighters who ended up in the emergency room with slight intoxication from having breathed. smoke.
And the data
The material damage, on the other hand, is considerable, certainly exceeding 50 million euros only because of the direct consequences. The whole city, invited to keep the windows closed and not to go outside except out of necessity, yesterday had to slow down for fear that the cloud of smoke pushed in by the wind contains toxic substances. Mayor Valeria Mancinelli immediately ordered the closure of schools, universities, parks, sports facilities and museums. Several stores, especially in the Archi district, remained closed, while the ash also reached districts far from the port, such as Monte Dago. The stop in schools and other activities has been prolonged as a precaution in Ancona also for today, when the final results of the Arpam surveys will arrive. Although the first analyzes excluded “evidence of toxic substances in the air,” the Municipality explained last night, “the burned materials evaluated so far were not dangerous.” The schools closed yesterday also in Falconara (today they will reopen), while in several neighboring municipalities, Sirolo, Numana, Montemarciano, they closed the windows preventing the boys from going out for recess. The Ancona Public Ministry has opened a file on the maxi-stake, for now without excluding anything, at least until the firefighters can enter the shed for an inspection. But the most likely hypothesis, at least from the first investigations entrusted to the Flying Squad, would appear to be accidental in nature, perhaps caused by a short circuit.
Last updated: 18:46
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