fire stations

tm,

You'll need to look for term Vigili Del Fuoco to find the fire stations. Monterosso has ambulances as they're usually parked under the railway trestle near Ristorante Belvedere, but I've never seen any fire apparatus.

Levanto is only about four minutes by train from Monterosso, and they appear to have a fire station....

https://it-it.facebook.com/vigilidelfuoco.levanto

You could also check this website....

http://www.vigilfuoco.it/aspx/home.aspx

I'm sure the fire service in Venice would be of great interest, as they use fire boats. The engines have quite a rumble when they pass by, so they probably have excellent pumping ability. As Rome and Florence are larger cities, the fire stations there shouldn't be hard to find.

THIS video will provide some idea on what the vehicles look like.

I was also a Paramedic / volunteer Firefighter so I can understand his interest.

The fire station in Venice (there's a station on Burano and most likely on Murano as well) would be interesting, but I didn't see Venice on your list.

http://www.vigilfuoco.it/aspx/home.aspx

Unlike in the USA, in Italy the fire department is not a local city or county department, rather, it's a National Corps, an agency of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.

This National Corps of Firefighters has a Regional Headquarters in every Region (usually just offices unless located in the provincial headquarters) and a Provincial Headquarters in each province (this is a real station). Plus there are smaller units or "distaccamenti" (fire stations) in the main towns of each province and at the airports. Bigger cities have these too in addition to the Provincial Headquarters.

In addition there is a large contingent of volunteers that are trained and coordinated by the Fire Corps and the National Civil Protection Agency. These are usually utilized in large events, like natural disasters and forest fires.

In Florence the Provincial Headquarters is on Via La Farina (always been there). There is also one "distaccamento" near the Ponte all Indiano, and one at the airport.

You are probably surprised that there are so few fire stations compared to the U.S. and that a city of 400,000 people, like Florence only has basically one big station and one small (plus the airport unit).

The main reasons why there are so few local offices are:
- Home fires are not at all frequent since homes are not built in wood.
- First aid medical response, which in America is provided by Fire Department stations, in Italy is provided by Ambulance service stations which, like fire stations in America, are ubiquitous.

For forest wild fires, there is also the national State Forest Corps. For national disasters there is also the national Civil Protection Agency, which coordinates all entities in case of large events, like natural disasters.

Thank you for your responses. We are looking forward to visiting Italy.