Pierlucio Tinazzi
Encyclopedia
Pierlucio Tinazzi was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...

 who perished while rescuing survivors of the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire
Mont Blanc Tunnel
The Mont Blanc Tunnel is a road tunnel in the Alps under the Mont Blanc mountain, linking Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France , and Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy . It is one of the major trans-Alpine transport routes, particularly for Italy, which relies on the tunnel for transporting as much as...

. Part of his job involved riding back and forth through the tunnel on his motorcycle
Motorcycle
A motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are one of the most...

 to keep traffic flowing, dispatching tow truck
Tow truck
A tow truck is a vehicle used to transport motor vehicles to another location , or to recover vehicles which are no longer on a drivable surface.Towing services are generally provided by an emergency road service operator...

s and providing motorist assistance as needed. Pierlucio had turned down a promotion to work the control booth at the main Italian office because he preferred to ride over sitting in an office.

On the day of the accident Tinazzi had been taking a rest break, and was getting ready to make a run back through the tunnel when the fire alarms went off. He had a two-way comm system in his helmet that kept him in contact with the Italian tunnel office. As soon as he was notified of the developing emergency in the tunnel, he grabbed breathing equipment
Self contained breathing apparatus
A self contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA, sometimes referred to as a Compressed Air Breathing Apparatus , air pack, or simply Breathing Apparatus is a device worn by rescue workers, firefighters, and others to provide breathable air in an IDLH Atmosphere...

 and drove his BMW K75
BMW K75
The BMW K75 was a standard motorcycle produced by BMW Motorrad from 1985 to 1995. At the time of its introduction, the K75 was BMW's cheapest motorcycle...

 back into the tunnel. As he came across people trying to get out, he stopped and told them to stay low, stay close to the wall (where fresh air was pumped in by the ventilation ducts
Ventilation (architecture)
Ventilating is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality...

) and keep moving, stopping only to breathe at the ducts. He then decided to continue on into the hottest and most dangerous part of the fire despite the risk to his own personal safety. Most of the truckers close to the fire suffocated or were poisoned by the noxious gases within minutes (see smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in victims of indoor fires.Smoke inhalation injury refers to injury due to inhalation or exposure to hot gaseous products of combustion. This can cause serious respiratory complications....

). Tinazzi searched for survivors among the wreckage and those who had already succumbed to the fire's ill effects. Tinazzi put the survivors on the back of his bike and shuttled back out the French side as fast as possible, bringing out victim after victim, then going back for the next one. On Tinazzi's fifth trip into the tunnel, he came across Maurice Lebras, a French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 truck driver who was unconscious but still alive. Too big and unwieldy to get onto the back of the bike unconscious, Tinazzi refused to abandon him. Instead he wrestled Maurice into fire refuge #20 and closed the door.

The original fire door
Fire door
A fire door is a door with a fire-resistance rating used as part of a passive fire protection system to reduce the spread of fire or smoke between compartments and to enable safe egress from a building or structure or ship...

s were rated to survive for 2 hours. Some had been upgraded in the 34 years since the tunnel was built to survive for 4 hours, but refuge #20 was not one of them. However, even the upgraded fire refuges could not withstand the intense heat of the tunnel fire, which raged for 56 hours. Pierlucio's BMW melted right into the pavement a few yards from refuge 20.

Tinazzi's heroism and bravery saved at least 10 people from certain death.

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