[4] Renovations include computerized detection equipment, extra security bays, a parallel escape shaft and a fire station in the middle of the tunnel complete with double-cabbed fire trucks. The Italians were assisted by a French motorcycle security guard named Patrick Devouassoux, who happened to be on the Italian side when the fire broke out. It was immediately obvious, as I began to read, that Spadino couldnt have saved anyone. Without other possibilities, they abandoned their vehicles and took refuge in two of the emergency fire cubicles (fire-door sealed small rooms set into the walls every 600 metres). You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. He was, unromantically, driving a Renault Express minivan. 17 inside the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The director of the tunnel company, Remi Chardon, said earlier that at least 17 and up to 30 people were feared to have died. The magnitude of death and destruction reverberated widely. Conclusions drawn from the enquiry following the Mont Blanc tunnel fire were that fatal consequences could be greatly reduced by: After the fire of March 24th 1999, the Mont Blanc tunnel required significant renovation before it was able to be reopened to traffic. 99 Tunnel, said the boring machine was 57 feet in diameter, providing room for spaces for safety systems in addition to the roadways. On 24th March, 1999, the Mont Blanc Tunnel fire occurred, with Tinazzi riding into the tunnel in an attempt to save lives on the French side. The tunnel, opened with great fanfare in 1965, is seven miles long. Experience from past tunnel incidents - PIARC The Mont Blanc Tunnel that connects Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France with Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy, via European route E25 through the Alps, was the scene of a fatal fire that took the lives of 38 people on this day in 1999. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In death, hed become an unofficial patron saint of Italian bikers. ICYMI:Newspaper upgrades CEOs housing stipend to $35K a month amid buyouts. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, personal reflection, personal essay, or argumentative essay, Learn how and when to remove this template message, French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau, "The Fire of 1999 - Autoroutes et Tunnel du Mont Blanc", "Case Studies: Historical Fires: Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire, Italy/France", "Infrastructural Fires: Mont Blanc Tunnel, Italy", "Land transport accident investigation bureau (BEA-TT)", "Guilty Verdicts in Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire Trial", "Procs du Mont-Blanc: Grard Roncoli condamn en appel 6 mois de prison ferme", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mont_Blanc_Tunnel_fire&oldid=1150665494, Gilbert Degrave, the Belgian driver of the truck that caught fire in the tunnel, The French and Italian managers of the tunnel, A senior official of the French Ministry of Public Works. In most of these, human negligence is somehow involved. No.6 Mont Blanc Tunnel fire | New Civil Engineer by red crosses) or closing of the tunnel (by traffic lights), are often neglected if not enforced by additional means (eg. Or, he might simply have chosen that moment to make a routine return trip to Italy. what happens if you snitch on the cartel. On 24th March, 1999, a Volvo lorry travelling from France to Italy stopped and burst into flames midway through the Mont Blanc Tunnel. The Italian side of the Mont Blanc Tunnel. All of them survived but their commanding officer, who died in a hospital. Outside, in the tunnel, Tinazzis motorcycle melted into the roadbed. douard Balladur, former president of the French company operating the tunnel (from 1968 to 1980), and later Prime Minister of France, underwent a witness examination. PDF 3 L Essons Learned From Recent Tunnel Fires - Piarc Pierlucio Tinazzi - Wikipedia At 10:57 and 10:59, two fire trucks from Chamonix responded to the unfolding disaster. The Mont Blanc Tunnel Disaster: Lessons Learned | Harvard Business In the aftermath, major changes were made to the tunnel to improve its safety. The Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire | A Short Documentary - YouTube The fire resulted in million of dollars in damage, thirty-nine deaths, and a three-year closure of the tunnel. In hindsight I should have wondered why none of them included photos, names, or quotes from the people hed saved. (It changed tunnel engineering and safety standards around the world, and is still top of mind for civil engineers working on huge tunnel infrastructure projects like the recently opened SR 99 tunnel in Seattle.). A Service Analysis of the Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire - ResearchGate It connects the highway systems of France and Italy, and cuts an hour off transport times between Italys industrial north and the rich markets beyond the Alps. The Mont Blanc Tunnel | SeeChamonix.com If I Googled Pierlucio Tinazzi with my language preference set to English, the top results linked to my story or follow-up pieces by others. was the first magazine to print it, in 2003. [5] In 1908, a first design was presented by French engineer Arnold Monod, to much interest from Italian and French politicians. Toxicity Limit States in Tunnel Fire Safety Designs I thought about the tunnel story on and off, usually around the anniversary of the fire. At one point, I mentioned that wed never had a fire, and he banged his hand on the table and said, Yet!. This was not yet considered a fire emergency. In 2016, we had Jean-Marc perform a safety review of the Port of Miami Tunnel, Mr. Hodgkins recalls. When the Mont Blanc tunnel was built in 1965, the transalpine crossing was considered . A few vehicles from the Italian side passed the Volvo truck without stopping. 120 Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 120 MONT BLANC TUNNEL FIRE Premium High Res Photos Browse 120 MONT BLANC TUNNEL FIRE photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. MIT researcher examines damage to concrete walls in tunnel fires Within the tunnel, a minimum speed of 50km/h and a maximum speed of 70km/h applies, while the prescribed distance between vehicles is 150 m; trucks are allowed to enter in groups of five. + Follow. All the deceased were on the French side, and were ultimately reduced to bones and ash by the intense heat. But all the witnesses and officials were under gag orders, and records including security video and recordings of radio traffic were sealed due to ongoing criminal and civil investigations. He was Italian, but as it happened, he entered the tunnel from the French side. Their bodies were found several hundred metres from the site of the crash, just beyond the halfway point between the French and Italian tunnel mouths. And maybe that is enough. For what its worth, Im glad it fell to others to break the truth to bikers in Val dAosta. Road traffic grew steadily until 1994, even with the opening of the Frjus tunnel. In school, his classmates called him Spadino the Italian word for rapier because hed been such a skinny kid. The fire trapped around 40 vehicles in dense and poisonous smoke containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. [10] The reopening followed an extensive overhaul of the safety features. Before Mont Blanc, tunnel engineers were divided on the benefit of sprinkler systems. The Italian company [that administered that end of the tunnel] also wanted an Italian hero, because they knew that as legal responsibility for the disaster was assigned, they were in opposition to the French company.. Of the initial fifty people trapped by the fire, twelve survived, all of them from the Italian side. Save almost 70%: 15.21 instead of 48.80 one way. But when they occur, they tend to burn long and hot, inflicting damage on the concrete walls that requires months of closure and costs millions of dollars in economic loss. The fire burned for 50 hours. The next morning, digging deeper, I uncovered a 97-page, minute-by-minute account of the fire, produced by Le Service Rgional de Police Judiciaire de Lyon. The Mont Blanc Tunnel finally reopened in 2002. On 27 July 2005, thirteen defendants were found guilty, and received sentences ranging from fines to suspended prison sentences to six months in jail: A memorial plaque on the French side of the tunnel; pictured in 2010, remembering those who were killed in the fire. I set out to write a biographical sketch of an unlikely hero. Pierlucio Tinazzi, an Italian security guard who died attempting to rescue a truck driver, was posthumously awarded Italy's Medaglia d'Oro al Valore Civile.[6]. It was immediately obvious, as I began to read, that Spadino couldnt have saved anyone. . Find Mont Blanc Tunnel stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. The likelihood of escalation of incidents into major events is low, however the consequences of such incidents can be severe in terms of victims, damage to the structure and impact on the transport economy. So there was a motorcycle guy who died in the fire, and a motorcycle guy who rescued several people; they just werent the same person. Closed-circuit television cameras were installed every few metres in 1995. Mont Blanc Tunnel | Description, History, Construction, Fire, & Facts It was a week before the tunnel cooled enough for forensic investigators to recover bodies. When it was realized that the cubicles were offering little protection from the smoke, they began searching for the doors that led to the ventilation duct. While the legend of the biker was exaggerated, the horror of the fire there 20 years ago and its impact on tunnel safety cannot be overstated.CreditSamuel Zeller for The New York Times. The association writes standards, not laws; its up to the local authorities to adopt them. Anyone can read what you share. Tunnel fire safety experts get sprinkler religion | phcppros Shortly after, the driver realized something was wrong as cars coming in the opposite direction flashed their headlights at him; a glance in his mirrors showed white smoke coming out from under his cabin. One account reported it to be a cigarette stub carelessly thrown at the truck, which supposedly entered the engine induction snorkel above the cabin, setting the paper air filter on fire. We shall answer you as soon as possible. An emblem for human courage in the face of adversity, and an inspiration for motorcyclists like me, that swept the world in its small way. Mont Blanc Tunnel re -opens 3 years after tragic fire in Chamonix, France on March 09, 2002. The Miami tunnel is a twin-bore tunnel, with a separate passageway for traffic in each direction. The fire burned for fifty-three hours and was estimated to have reached a temperature of 1,000C (1,830F), mainly because of the margarine load in the trailer, equivalent to a 23,000-litre (5,100impgal; 6,100USgal) oil tanker. It felt like someone I had been married to for years had been cheating on me all along. [1] Tinazzi was in radio contact with the Italian side for over an hour before succumbing to the intense heat, which caused his motorcycle to melt into the pavement. The interviews I conducted with his sister and a few close friends were heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Remy Chardon, former president of the French company operating the tunnel, was convicted and received a two-year suspended jail term; he was also fined approximately. Introduction. The fire refuges were greatly improved in the extensive renovation that followed the 1999 fire. These fumes quickly filled the tunnel and restricted oxygen, disabling vehicles including fire engines which, once affected, had to be abandoned by the firefighters. It had been open nearly 35 years without a single fatal incident until the morning of March 24, 1999. Webcams Account verification Call for Bids. The middle of the tunnel today looking toward Italy. an Italian security guard who perished while rescuing survivors of the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire. The safe havens were designed to protect motorists from a fire for only two hours. Mont Blanc Tunnel traffic. The second, Into the Flames Fire Underground (aired 2006), revisited the circumstances and showed how new technology in the form of a new type of fire extinguisher could have reduced the scale of the disaster and enabled the fire service to reach and remain in the vicinity to fight the fire. That was a small mercy. Of course now, Im embarrassed that it took me 14 years to correct the record. I suppose I sympathize with any editor who chose to downplay a correction, after a devastated region had drawn inspiration from so unlikely a hero. Some victims escaped to the fire . Twenty-seven people were asphyxiated in cars and trucks. The tunnel passes almost exactly under the summit of the Aiguille du Midi. It began on March 24, 1999 when a Volvo FH12 semi-truck from Belgium, carrying a cargo of nine tons of margarine and 12 tons of flour, stopped to pay the toll at the French portal of the Mont Blanc Tunnel. [1] Drilling began in 1959 and was completed in 1962; the tunnel was opened to traffic on 19 July 1965. Recognizing that road tunnels were more common in Europe, Asia and Australia, he recruited international expertise to the committee. The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a highway tunnel between France and Italy, under the Mont Blanc mountain in the Alps. Le tunnel des Tauern a t ouvert en 1975, celui du St. Gothard en 1980. At 11:10 six Chamonix firefighters entered the tunnel, but were blocked at the garage 17, 2700 meters from the truck. The judicial inquiry is expected to concentrate on the safety standards of the 34-year- old single-bore tunnel - especially the absence of an escape tunnel and the adequacy of the ventilation system. A Deadly Blaze in the Alps Made a Biker a Hero and Tunnels Safer for All, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/21/business/mont-blanc-tunnel-fire-anniversary-rescue.html. Four years later, in 2003, I was living in France. The damage to the tunnel was so severe that it took almost three . [3], For several years, Tinazzi was also wrongly credited by newspapers with saving between ten and twelve people by ferrying them to safety on his motorcycle before dying in the fire. Halifax explosion, also called Halifax explosion of 1917 or the Great Halifax Explosion, devastating explosion on December 6, 1917, that occurred when a munitions ship blew up in the harbour of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is 11.7 km (7.3 miles) long and crosses under the highest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc. He never quite got there. Nothing in the official record suggests his motivation. I wonder if he ever realized his mistake, or tried to correct the record. Pierlucio Tinazzi, the biker nicknamed Spadino. Over the years, there have been a few occasions when complete strangers thanked me for writing, Searching for Spadino. That always made my day. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 39 people were killed. The most notable fire was the 1999 Mount Blanc Tunnel, seven miles long connecting France and Italy, in which 39 persons died. I looked again at the citation for the FIM medal. The tunnel is 11.611km (7.215mi) in length, 8.6m (28ft) in width, and 4.35m (14.3ft) in height. The Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy experienced a widely publicized fire disaster in March 1999, when a truck traveling through the 11,6 km long tunnel burst into flames 6 km into the structure. Tunnel du Mont-Blanc Traforo del Monte Bianco . Other motorists were overcome by fumes as they tried to run to safety. French police announced last night that as many as 40 trucks . I wrote a story that became a legend. Then I discovered it wasn't true. In a subsequent email exchange, Jean-Marc Berthier pointed out that Spadino was not trained or equipped to fight a fire. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mont-Blanc-Tunnel, British Broadcasting Corporation - Mont Blanc tunnel. However, most studies of fire toxicity have been regarding lethality, for . Since then, Mr. Berthier has become a global evangelist for tunnel fire safety. That tunnel blaze killed 39 people. Twenty years ago, Pierlucio "Spadino" Tinazzi was a security guard who patrolled the Mont Blanc tunnel in the Alps by motorcycle, in order to ensure a steady flow of traffic. Shortly before 9:00 am . But I never really dug back into it. "Stay safe in road tunnels" in Europe and UK | Croner-i This page was last edited on 19 April 2023, at 12:22. Except for his uniform and motorcycle, he lived a life almost utterly lacking in conspicuity. The tunnel crossing is subject to a toll; the toll differs from Italy to France because of their different VAT rates. Their trucks stuck now, the firefighters retreated into two refuges. All the vehicles destroyed appear to have been trapped in the inferno that followed, estimated by officials to have reached a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius. The resulting fire burned for 52 hours and ended 41 lives. The larger trucks were stranded, as they did not have the space to turn around, and reversing out was not an option. Victims 11 deaths 5 deaths 155 deaths 12 deaths 39 deaths 5 deaths 2 injured Vehicles damaged 10 cars 23 lorries . However, the idea did not receive widespread attention until 1907, when Francesco Farinet, a Member of Parliament of the Aosta Valley, advocated constructing of the tunnel. March 24, 1999 - Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire - This Day in Automotive History He appeared to be trying to catch up to the truck that sparked the catastrophe, witnesses said. A year after the fire, thousands of bikers gathered at the Italian portal to commemorate him. In those countries, post-trial stories acknowledged that the legend was exaggerated. [5] In 1962, the French and Italian drilling teams met on 4 August. The International Motorcycle Federation, the world governing body of motorcycle sport, presented its highest award to his family. So you can imagine why newspapers and magazines are not interested in revising [the] account.. I was not alone in making Spadino a hero. Had he really forgotten, I wondered, or was there something he didnt want to tell me? On the fifth trip, he came across a French truck driver named Maurice Lebras, who was alive but unconscious, according to messages Tinazzi communicated via a tunnel intercom. A remote site for cargo safety inspection was created on each side: Aosta in Italy and Passy-Le Fayet in France. Mont Blanc Tunnel, major Alpine automotive tunnel connecting France and Italy. Large-scale generation and characterisation of fire effluents. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Extract of sample "Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire". We have 44 jet fans that can operate in either direction, so we can suck air away from the fire, so toxins dont affect people in the tunnel.. They were eventually rescued via a ventilation duct. On 24th March 1999 a transport truck caught fire while driving through the Mont Blanc tunnel between Italy and France. There were no casualties. Fire damage rebuild of Mont Blanc road link - tunneltalk.com By. Jean-Marc, who until that point in our conversation had easily recalled facts and anecdotes, told me he couldnt remember the details. And my curiosity finally got the better of me. For what its worth, Im glad it fell to others to break the truth to bikers in Val dAosta. The highway trunk from Aosta to the tunnel on the Italian side was completed in 2007.[12]. But I never really dug back into it. At 11:39, another team of firefighters entered the tunnel from the French side but were blocked at the garage 5, 4,800 metres from the truck. [2] Degrave subsequently abandoned his vehicle and ran to the Italian entrance of the tunnel. [7] The closest smoke detector was out of order, and French emergency services did not use the same radio frequency as those inside the tunnel. The following week, something new and bad is on again and the wheel restarts its circle. Theyd already made several annual pilgrimages to the tunnel in his honor. Before they even reached the burning truck, they found themselves in a desperate fight for their own survival. Tunnel Fire - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics The police deposed hundreds of witnesses and experts, studied all the security logs and video, and analyzed thousands of photos and other pieces of forensic evidence. Northeast of Mont Blanc's summit, the tunnel is about 15km (10mi) southwest of the tripoint with Switzerland, near Mont Dolent. Berthier talked to me about the first Memorial Spadino biker gathering. The October 2001 fire caused 11 unnecessary fatalities. Over the years, there have been a few occasions when complete strangers thanked me for writing. . The initial journey through the tunnel was routine. Not your archetypal biker. Some of the cars from the French side managed to turn around in the narrow two-lane tunnel to retreat back to France, but navigating the road in the dense smoke that had rapidly filled the tunnel quickly made this impossible. Mont Blanc looming over Lake Leman, in the Swiss Alps. Opened in 1965 mainly for tourism and regional trade purposes there is a great deal of controversy surrounding the use of the tunnel by international Heavy Goods Vehicles - particularly after a disaster in 1999 in which 39 victims died in a fire which was started by a truck.
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