According to information released by IT-Alert, the alert for the accident in the municipality of Calenzano, near Florence, went out an hour after the explosion. It remains to be seen whether this is a delay or whether these are the times needed to activate the notification protocol.
For the first time there IT-Alert notification arrived on the smartphones of the people involved in an industrial accident. The warning was issued after at 10.20am today, Monday 9 December, an explosion engulfed the Eni storage depot in Praticone, in municipality of Calenzano. The depot is located a few kilometers from Florence. From the information we have so far, the explosion, from which a column of smoke rose, would have caused the death of two people and the wounding of others nine. Three people are missing.
The alert was issued at 11.25amaccording to the official page of the system it has arrived to all the smartphones present in an area of 5 kilometers from the accident. Even on the project website we can read that the first message arrived at 11.25am. The text reads:
“CIVIL PROTECTION ALERT 11.25 am Accident in the Eni industrial plant with the 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 updated and follow the instructions of the authorities.”
The text is also repeated in English. On its social channels the Civil Protection Department has also issued thelist of instructions to follow for this accident. In addition to those reported in the warning we also find “Turn off the boiler and the electrical system: the substances released could be flammable”. And again: “Do not eat foods that have come into contact with dangerous substances” and “Do not open flames”.
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The message arrived an hour later
From the February 13, 2024 IT-Alert is officially operational. As we know there are still tests in different regions but at the moment the alarm is active for four types of risks:
- Nuclear accidents or radiological emergency situation
- Major accidents in industrial plants
- Collapse of one big dam
- Volcanic activity in the aree of the Phlegraean FieldsVesuvius and the island of Vulcano.
At his first test the system worked but the alarm, from the news that has emerged so far, would have arrived an hour after the accident. What remains to be understood now is whether it was a delay or whether the protocol for deciding whether to proceed with sending the message provides for these reaction times.
