Today was a special day as we as a class got to take a tour of the Vigili del Fouco, which is the Fire Brigade in Italy, department in Venice. We got a tour from Andre who has been a firefighter for over a decade and specializes in rope rescue systems. He showed us where they have the boats ready to respond and where they perform maintenance. He also showed us the practice tower where they can practice climbing and rope systems. He displayed his own gear that he wears and even let us try on some of it. After having a coffee with him in the cafe we left toured the closed off section of the Arsenale. For the most part we tagged along with another group and had a guide translate what was being said. Following the tour we headed back to the apartment to later have pasta at Pasta&sugo which was cheap and fantastic!

Fire Department and Arsenale

Day 20
Oliver Brown

For our final tours, we visited the local Venetian fire department and the Arsenale. Our tour guide was in the specialist climbing group, so if a building needed to be scaled at an emergency he would be called. They have multiple fire boats, equipped with pumps and fire hoses. We were shown all of the gear, which is the same in all countries in the European Union. Most of their calls are not for fires, as the buildings here are made out of brick and stone and fires don't catch or spread well. While responding to a call, they drive about 7 knots. 

This afternoon we toured the Arsenale, the old Venetian shipyard. Currently it is a military base where cadets are trained. They still produce a few small boats a year to convince the government that they should not be shut down. During the hight of the Venetian boat building frenzy, the Arsenale was finishing a boat a day.

A display of various knots at the fire station

 Fire response boat

docking bay for fireboats off canal

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