Fire in via San Lucano, the story: “We tried to escape, but we couldn’t breathe and we didn’t see anything”
BELLUNO. The greatest anxiety for a parent is to secure their child during an emergency. It gives a thrill to listen to the story of Erika Martinelli, who was trapped with her family in the apartment on the third floor of Via San Lucano during the fire that broke out in the night between Monday and Tuesday. “Not being able to rescue your child is a devastating experience,” he says, his voice still broken by the memory of that night.
“We were sleeping when the fire broke out. I heard the doorbell ring, but I was thinking a boy’s joke. But then I heard the rumble of the other bells, ours also rang again and at that point my partner got up ».
The man smelled the smoke and the first thought was that there was some problem in the kitchen. “Nothing had happened in that room, so we opened the door and a flurry of smoke entered”, continues Martinelli. “We woke the baby up in a hurry, put a wet towel on his face and tried to escape but couldn’t get off the stairs. We tried, we made two ramps but we kept falling because you couldn’t see anything and you couldn’t breathe ».
The family has returned to the house, seeking shelter on the roof terrace. “We waited for the firefighters to arrive, anxious not to know where the fire broke out,” he continues. “We had closed the door and couldn’t hear the firefighters banging. We asked for help, advising that we have a small child ».
The firefighters immediately gave the baby some oxygen, then carried him out of that hell of smoke, with the respirator on his face. To keep him company was his favorite teddy bear, which the child asked to be allowed to take with him.
“Then they accompanied me and finally my partner out,” continues the woman. “Once we were outside, the doctors measured all the parameters for us, because we had breathed smoke, but we were fine and we didn’t go to the hospital. At 5 we went to the Giovanni XXIII center ».
The next day, the family sought another accommodation, finding hospitality from relatives and friends. «Now the experts have come», Erika Martinelli explained yesterday afternoon, «we need to sanitize the whole apartment because the air inside is unbreathable. Everything smells like smoke. We have nothing left, even the clothes smell of smoke, but that’s not a problem. We saved ourselves, that’s what counts ». Trying to escape in the middle of the night, in a dramatic situation.
“Luckily we are fine, we and all the other tenants,” concludes the woman. “It could have been a tragedy. Of course, losing your belongings is dramatic, but we saved our lives ».
.