At 10.22am today Monday December 9, 2024 an explosion occurred in the ENI refinery in Calenzanoin the province of Florence in Tuscany, which caused 2 dead, 9 injured And 3 missing. A loud bang which could be heard even for kilometers away, broke window panes in the surrounding area, and a vast explosion arose column of black smoke also visible from neighboring municipalities. The Fire Brigade with 9 teams, the police forces and the regional health emergency system are operational on site. Two days of mourning have been established in Calenzano for the victims of the accident. The explosion activated the warning system IT-Alert from the Civil Protectionwhich for the first time ever sent a real message while up to now it had only released test messages.
The first real IT-Alert message
The message was delivered at 11.25am – so about an hour after the explosion – to all cell phones within range 5km from the explosion. This is the text of the message sent:
CIVIL PROTECTION ALARM 09/12/2024 11.25 am Accident in the Eni spa industrial plant with presence of dangerous substances in the municipality of Calenzano (Florence), via Erbosa n.29. Find shelter indoors and do not go near the plant. Keep up to date and follow the instructions of the Authorities.
The same text is then repeated in English for which he does not know or has difficulty with Italian. Along with the text pop-up also came a acoustic message with a higher volume and a different tone than those sent during the various tests carried out in recent months throughout the Peninsula.
The recommendations of the Civil Protection in the event of accidents such as the one that occurred in Tuscany
In addition to the first activation of IT-Alert, the Civil Protection has also released the instructions to follow for those who are near the accident. In the event of serious industrial accidents, there are two scenarios: seek shelter indoors or evacuate the area. In this case we opted for the first option, and the first recommendation is not to return home but go to the nearest indoor location to reduce the exposure time to the substances released. Once you have found shelter, you need to close doors and windows and cover the gaps if possible with wet cloths; do not smoke or light flames; do not turn on the electricity or gas or air conditioners or fans. Finally, the Civil Protection recommends protecting your mouth and nose with wet cloths in case of irritation to the airways and pungent odors.
