Life at the base camp among radios, bags under the eyes and cakes

It is the heart of the whole operation. It is where the teams leave in the morning and where they come back in the evening. It is the big field of Casciago, the one in front on the church of Sant’Eusebio, promoted in these days as the “base camp” of all the extinguishing operations of the fire that from last Wednesday is destroying the Campo dei Fiori.

During the morning of Tuesday, October 30^th the base camp had been moved to Gavirate at the Parco delle cinque piante.

Here everyone has a common thing, in addition to bags under their eyes : they all hold a radio in their hands. They talk to the ground teams, they organize the operations of Canadair and helicopters, they receive reports from the water supply areas. The crackling of the speakers and the static discharges are the soundtrack of the base camp. Some people have two radios attached to their belt, which in fact become three when even the phone starts ringing.

Here time is not marked by clocks, but by helicopters and Canadair. The first ones land in the big field, in front of the fire truck. It is here that technicians attach the basket necessary to drop the water on the fire. But the planes beat the time. It is possible to hear their buzzing every five of six minutes, because the big field of Casciago is right on the route between the fire and the Lake of Varese (where the aircrafts take in more water). When the refuelling must be of paraffin, times are longer. And it is only in that moment that it is possible to stop for a moment but without resting, because the fire does not wait and the hours of daylight are less and less.

From here, the plumes of smoke which raise from the mountain look like red spots on a whiteboard, This is how the fire is seen from the base camp, with signs that stretch and reduce as the teams move forward and the water falls down from the nacelles of the planes.

At the base camp, anxiety remains sky-high. Especially when smoke clouds raise from areas where the fire was believed to be already extinguished. This anxiety is hard to dampen, but there is a moment when worries take the second place and, at least for few moments, everyone smiles. This happens when someone go to the base camp with some coffee, a thermos with hot tea and a large tray with cakes.

Today, this happened several times thanks to some locals and people from Casmo, the football federation which is located near to the field. And even though many people have not even had lunch yet, none of them pounce on the trays. Indeed, many trays remain full for hours. Why? Because food has to last until the teams return to the base camp after being on the mountain.

When the darkness falls the base camp is filled with pick-ups and jeeps. The teams go back there, agreeing for the next day’s shifts and telling what happened during the day. And it is even better if it happens with a cup of hot tea in one hand and a slice of cake in the other. Also, because some of them have to drive for long time. Today, for example, on the Campo dei Fiori there were men and women also from Bergamo or Pavia. And some of them will come back tomorrow.

Also many of those that worked today will come back. Not only the wood firefighter experts, but also some specialists, such as woodcutters. Today, actually, the work of some expert woodcutters has been essential in order to create the five metres fire-barrier and it was used to contain the flames which were leading towards the base of the mountain. A slice of cake and a cup of tea was a tiny big gratification for those who are doing an amazing job.