Italy’s heroes are fighting the government

Each government pledges to boost resources to the emergency services, but it’s never enough. We need more, better-paid police and firefighters. 

I recently experienced first-hand what a great job they do. The other day, my 55kg “baby” rottweiler, called Naboo, somehow managed to shut us out of our house. We had left him inside while we worked in the garden, but he got worried and started banging against the door with all his strength. As a result, he managed to lock the door from the inside. 

We couldn’t get in, and all the windows were sealed shut. It was freezing cold and we had skipped lunch. 

After two hours trying to force the door ourselves, we had to call the fire service. In just seven minutes, eight muscular men in brightly coloured uniforms arrived in their huge truck, sirens and all, the tyres so big they reached my collarbone. 

I felt embarrassed calling them for such a petty thing, caused by our own stupidity. These people rescue citizens caught in fires. 

But they were adamant in stating that we were an “emergency”.

“We rushed over here because leaving an old lady [my mom] outside in the cold for too long would mean to sentence her to potential death by hypothermia.” 

That made me feel a bit better. 

So while my “puppy” was inside getting warm in front of the fire, wondering what the big deal was with eight men outside the house, the lead firefighter managed to open the door using a thin metal rod, meaning we didn’t have to smash the glass and spend a fortune replacing it. 

But as soon as the door was slightly ajar, an ecstatic Naboo was waiting to leap out. Seeing the rottweiler, the eight brave firemen ran for their lives and jumped back into the truck: they were more afraid of my puppy than they were of fire.  

A similar event took place a few weeks ago at my uncle’s house south of Rome. We were having dinner when my aunt accidentally pressed a button that triggered the very sophisticated alarm system they had installed. She had inadvertently activated the “emergency call for robbery in action” alert mechanism, which is directly connected to the national network of police stations. As soon as they get the alert, the closest station sends over police. 

After a minute or so we heard sirens, and looking out of the window we saw that a squad of armed policemen was already standing out front, toting a huge array of weapons. 

I confess – I freaked out. After much apologising for her mistake (two of the officers were really angry), my aunt offered them a shot of limoncello, which they declined. 

I had never thought about how resilient the police and firefighters could really be. I just hope they’re always so fast at intervening, particularly when the threat is real and lives are at stake. And they really aren’t paid enough.

Silvia Marchetti is a freelance reporter based in Rome