back to article You had ONE job: Italian firefighters suspected of starting blazes for cash

Firefighters in Sicily have been accused of starting fires for money. The captain of a 15-person volunteer firefighter squad based in southern Italy was arrested on Monday on suspicion of fraud against the state and arson. The other 14 are also under investigation. According to a police report, members of the squad are …

  1. Aladdin Sane

    GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

    "The Guild of Firefighters had been outlawed by the Patrician the previous year after many complaints. The point was that, if you bought a contract from the Guild, your house would be protected against fire. Unfortunately, the general Ankh-Morpork ethos quickly came to the fore and fire fighters would tend to go to prospective clients’ houses in groups, making loud comments like ‘Very inflammable looking place, this’ and ‘Probably go up like a firework with just one carelessly-dropped match, know what I mean?’" - Sir Pterry Pratchett (Guards! Guards!)

    1. DropBear

      Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

      Lucrative rackets aside, I see a tiny problem with that description - namely, the assumption that the firefighters would have any interest in the protection of the object of their efforts; what they're there to do is hopefully protect the neighbouring buildings while utterly and completely destroying and levelling the one that happens to be on fire.

    2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

      Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

      Sadly (and like a good deal of Sir Pterry's fine output) this is somewhat based on reality - this is (largely) how the fire services in 17th & 18th century Britain worked.

      1. kain preacher

        Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

        Happened in New york in the 18th century.

      2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

        Crassus* in 1st Century BC Rome got rather rich (and unpopular) with a similar trick. He had a personal fire brigade. He'd turn up with a team of firefighting slaves and a lawyer at your fire. Would you like to sell me this property? Say for a third of its value? No? Well OK then, me and my firefighting slaves will be over there watching it burn, in case you change your mind...

        *He of killing off Spartacus and Triumvarate with Caesar and Pompey fame. They did the generalling, and he did the vast wheelbarrows of cash for bribing.

        1. BebopWeBop

          Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

          I seem to remember that Crassus came to a sticky end - with his head used as decoration by the Parthians(?)

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

            Poor Crassus didn't like being just the moneybags. But if you're going to pick two people in history to try and compete on military ability with, might I suggest an easier target than Caesar and Pompey...

            Anyway he did quite a good job at dealing with the Spartacus revolt, then Pompey turned up at the last minute and nicked most of the glory.

            Later he had another go and took an army off to show Johnny-Parthian who was boss - and got them all killed. Oops.

    3. Mark 85

      Re: GNU TERRY PRATCHETT

      For some reason, Chicago and certain "businessmen*" come to mind.

      *For a long time, members of certain criminal organizations called themselves "businessmen".

  2. vonBureck
    Facepalm

    Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

    "...everyone had been so dead set against any form of fire brigade, reasoning – with impeccable Ankh-Morpork logic – that any bunch of men who were paid to put out fires would naturally see to it that there was a plentiful supply of fires to put out"

    The longer I read the Discworld novels, the less fiction I see.

    1. Aladdin Sane

      Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

      Considering I thought along the same lines, I think we need a Sir Pterry icon.

      1. vonBureck

        Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

        >>> Considering I thought along the same lines, I think we need a Sir Pterry icon.

        Absolutely, and with a commentard poll to choose it. ED? Are you listening?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

      I thought of that Futurama episode where Bender was accused of starting fires to claim medals.

      1. Steve Evans

        Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

        I thought of that Futurama episode where Bender was accused of starting fires to claim medals.

        Best go with a PTerry reference, Bender was innocent (for once!).

    3. Kane
      Thumb Up

      Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

      The penny really dropped after 'Charcoal Wednesday'

      I further the cause and raise my hand in agreement - we need a Sir Pterry icon.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

      Its not really fiction as around 1700 (ish) England was full of companies doing much the same as this. Apart from being 300 or so years behind this behaviour isn't that novel.

      Many Insurance companies grew out of this business - I really can't imagine why though...

      1. NorthernCoder
        Thumb Up

        Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

        Don't you mean Inn-Sewer-Ants?

        *Needs Pterry Icon -->*

        1. Kane
          Happy

          Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

          "Don't you mean Inn-Sewer-Ants?"

          Inn-Sewer-Ants Polly-Sea?

          *Needs Pterry Icon -->*

          1. Swarthy
            Go

            Re: Obligatory prescient quote from Sir Pterry

            That has to do with the reflected-sounds-of-underground-spirits, no?

  3. DropBear
    Flame

    I don't exactly see the problem here. Since when is it not the job of the fire brigade to light fires...? You know, with piles of books?!? 'Tis writ thusly in the foundational charter penned by Ray Bradbury himself!

  4. A K Stiles
    Coat

    Get what you measure

    or possibly what you reward!

    The one with the large brown envelope in the inside pocket please

  5. johnnymotel

    Nothing new for Sicily...

    Several years ago I met an Italian whose family was from Sicily. In conversation about his life on the island it turned out his dad ran a road repair company that managed to get the whole island contract. It was a license to print money, because potholes were always 'appearing' and each pothole would need to be repaired 'several times'.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

      Old joke:

      An actuary can tell you how many people over the age of 60 will die per year.

      The Sicilian actuary can give you their names and addresses

    2. Chris 244

      Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

      It's been a few years since I read The Godfather but I'm pretty sure one of the schemes was to run a shipping company using overloaded trucks and also have the road repair contracts for the routes the trucks ran on.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

      Sicily has also a large number of local Forest Service people, over 25,000 (there are less than 500 in Lombardy, for a comparison), about 3,500 of them with criminal records, including arson and mafia-related crimes.

      The reason is they are a huge electoral votes source paid with state money.... it's a long standing scandal nobody wants to fix, especially since Sicily is one of the five regions in Italy with a "special autonomy", and they should fix it themselves.

      Also, is one of the few regions that didn't prepare a "fire emergency plan" with dedicated helicopters (the larger Canadair planes are managed at the state level). Those reassigned when the Forest Corp was merged with Carabinieri (a quite silly move to save money, Carabinieri should have instead been merged with Polizia...), are MIA. Probably now used for other services.

      Keeping flames around ensure money and jobs... and who cares about the rest.

      1. eldakka

        Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

        Sicily has also a large number of local Forest Service people, over 25,000 (there are less than 500 in Lombardy, for a comparison), about 3,500 of them with criminal records, including arson and mafia-related crimes.

        Well, the mafia needs someone to get rid of the bodies. Forest Service would be well placed to help with that.

      2. Lotaresco

        Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

        "Carabinieri should have instead been merged with Polizia"

        I really can't agree about that. The Carabineri include the Italian version of the SAS and they are decent, honourable people kept that way because of their policy of moving individuals away from their home so that nepotism can't affect their decisions. The Polizia Statale are bumbling incompetents.

        The Corpo Forestale sell Christmas Trees and manure as well as swanning around in Land Rover Defenders.

        1. Aladdin Sane

          Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

          Sicily has also a large number of local Forest Service people, over 25,000 (there are less than 500 in Lombardy, for a comparison), about 3,500 of them with criminal records, including arson and mafia-related crimes

          Puts me in mind of this - 'A survey by the Guild of Merchants in the docks area of Ankh-Morpork found 987 women who gave their profession as "seamstress" – and two needles.'

    4. Pompous Git Silver badge

      Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

      "potholes were always 'appearing' and each pothole would need to be repaired 'several times'."
      Sounds a bit like the roads in the Huon Valley south of Hobart. One of my neighbours got into strife with the Council. He had some concrete left over so he filled the pot holes in the road outside his house.

    5. Lotaresco

      Re: Nothing new for Sicily...

      Not just Sicilly. I live (sometimes) in the mezzogiorno. The local road mender is a friend and I've had him do work for me in the past. He has two standards of work. That done for friends will last a lifetime. That done for the state won't last through winter.

  6. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    Pretty sure...

    Pretty sure that the same thing was going on in Naples recently as there were loads of fires out there when I was there, and it was suspected that it was some collusion between the local Mafia and the adminstration.

    Also, excuse the pun, but you'd have thought them smart enough to at least have called the fires in using "burner" phones.

    1. Sgt_Oddball
      Trollface

      Re: Pretty sure...

      They considered it but did you see the prices of the note 7's?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pretty sure...

      Italy, lovely country that it is, has been an almost dictionary perfect example of corruption at all levels for a very long time.

      Anon, because I do like Italy as a place, and its people, and would like to go back again!

      (I'm under no illusion that my own government is much better).

  7. A Non e-mouse Silver badge

    Not the first

    There was (at least one) case where a fire fighter in the UK did exactly the same thing: Start fires so they'd get paid their call out fee.

    1. Kernel

      Re: Not the first

      Yep, it's been known to happen in New Zealand as well. Apparently it's not as rare as we'd all like to think it is.

      1. Steve Evans

        Re: Not the first

        I think the difference here is the scale.

        Everywhere else it's one or two bad apples. In Italy it's an entire squad!

        And they say it's the Germans who are organised! Pah!

  8. earl grey
    Flame

    Burning down the house

    Not My House.

  9. David Nash Silver badge

    Entirely predictable too. If you pay people by certain measures, they will do their utmost to maximise that measure. Clearly fire crew should be weekly or annually salaried.

  10. disgruntled yank

    Mercenaries!

    Here in the US volunteer firemen start them now and then, but it always seems to be for thrills.

  11. Anonymous South African Coward Bronze badge

    Fahrenheit 451

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Paris Hilton

      According to the Vulture Central Standards Bureau shouldn't this be 21.2778 Hiltons? BTW does anyone know the history of this criminally-overlooked unit?

      Paris for obvious reasons ->

  12. hatti

    Job creation

    At least they put them out again, the one I have a problem with is the one that is not being put out.

  13. DNTP

    That's not as big as Texas

    Texas executed an innocent man (or at least blatantly failed to meet the required legal standard) because of a fraudulently unscientific "arson investigator", a jailhouse informant illegally providing testimony in exchange for early release, a criminal psychologist with basically a sexual fetish for the death penalty who made fantastical interpretations of satanic cult involvement, and probably a cover-up on the part of Governor Perry.

    Sorry Italy, your fireboys and their harmless little 10$/hour firebugging just doesn't stack up. As they say in Texas, go big (and execute innocent people) or go home.

    1. 404
      Devil

      Re: That's not as big as Texas

      Another Texas Classic: 'More men need hanging than horses need stealing'...

      This one started a fight: 'Arizona? Ain't that a county in West Texas?'. Became the best of friends after that dustup ;)

    2. Michael Strorm Silver badge

      Re: That's not as big as Texas

      "their harmless little 10$/hour firebugging"

      I heard this on the news yesterday, and noted that the rate they were being paid at (€10, around £7.70 or US $11.70)

      And I'm thinking... "WTF? They're doing all *this* for the money, despite being paid barely higher than the UK minimum 'living' wage?!"

  14. JJKing
    Coat

    If the Captain of the squad is found guilty, will he be .......... fired?

    Mine's the one made of asbestos.

    1. Aladdin Sane

      Would he be captain of the firing squad?

    2. eldakka

      As long as the prosecution doesn't go up in smoke.

    3. Korev Silver badge
      Flame

      You're going to get flamed for that...

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And no article about the Polish from UK that kidnapped a UK model in Milan...

    ... and tried to sell her on the "Dark Web"?

    I thought it was a perfect "bootnote" one...

  16. Version 1.0 Silver badge

    Had they been Bankers ...

    ... they would have simply moved to another department with a nice bonus and promotion.

  17. MCMLXV

    Sir Pterry icon

    How about a black hat?

  18. Ken Moorhouse Silver badge

    Nero...

    ...we all knew he was on the fiddle.

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