Exhausted, after hours of fighting in the flames of Orotelli , yesterday evening, forester Franco Casula from Fonni sought refreshment in the shade of a plant. The photo of this man, exhausted after hours on the front line against the flames, has become the symbol of a plague , that of fires, which yesterday incinerated a thousand hectares in Sardinia. But also of the effort of those who fight it, sometimes with blunt weapons.
Today, the protagonist of the shot arrived to tell the balance of a dramatic day: «This is me at the end of a fiery day that started very early. Here it is almost 8pm immediately after the counterfire action by the Gauf of the Forestry Corps, an action that stopped the flames just before they hit the town of Orotelli".
Casula wanted to launch an appeal to the regional institutions: «The best gratitude that Sardinia can show for these actions is to recruit personnel in the Forestry and Environmental Surveillance Corps and Forestas». Then the underlining: «We are really in serious shortage of personnel».
The mayor of Fonni and president of the Anci, Daniela Falconi, also congratulated the work carried out by Casula and her colleagues: «I believe that the photo of our fellow villager Franco Casula is truly emblematic. It was taken at the end of a devastating day in Orotelli, where the fire almost reached the houses."
Falconi also calls for a common front to defend the environment: «The prevention works on which all, without exception, institutions and citizens must commit ourselves , it is essential that a major plan for recruiting personnel for the forestry corps and for the agency is combined. Forestas which to date are truly lacking and in total emergency", concluded Falconi.