June 20, 2019 • 25 mins
France and Italy share great food, culture, and the Alps. Learn about the fire that burned for 52 hours and the tragedy shared by the two neighboring countries.
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Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
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Follow us on Twitter @UntimelyPodcast
Music: "Humbled in a Battle" by Antti Luode (http://anttismusic.blogspot.com)
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Transporting goods from one country to anotheris made possible by the men and women
of the trucking industry. Trucks orlorries ship almost every type of commodity needed
and wanted by consumers, whether it'sa load of baking ingredients for a family
owned bakery or your long awaited catalogorder. Truck drivers make this leap from
(00:33):
a warehouse to a front door forour convenience a possibility. One of these
lorry drivers is Smartin Cairns. Martinwas born in the United Kingdom from Newcastle
upon Tyne. In nineteen seventy six, after graduation, he moved to Rotterdam
to drive for a Dutch hauling firm. Seems easy enough for Martin, driving
(00:56):
to different countries, seeing different sitesand hearing different sounds. Not only was
he doing this job for himself,but for his fiancee and child. You
see, Martin is working extra hardnow that he was an expectant father.
In the early months of nineteen ninetynine, Martin was driving his usual route
(01:17):
on his lor His boss, LeoBurgworth, was in contact with Martin on
the radio throughout the drive, justto check in. Sometime after ten the
morning, Martin radioed Leo and said, hey, radio communications may stop because
I'm entering a tunnel, Leo acknowledged. An hour later, Leo tried Martin
(01:38):
back, but there was no answeron the radio. Leo asked himself,
maybe there was traffic in the tunnel, so he looked at the lori's location
via satellite link. Now, usuallythis satellite will show blinking green dots that
represent all of the active lorris enroute to their destinations. Leo tried looking
(02:00):
for the green dots showing Martin's location. He looked closely and carefully, but
cannot find it. He was gone, like it just disappeared. You were
listening to Untimely, a podcast aboutevents in earlier or recent history that resulted
(02:23):
in untimely fatalities and damages in itswake. I am your host, Lynne.
I am sure that at least oneof you agrees with me that tunnels
are quite the engineering marvel. Imagineblowing up a mountain with such surgical and
calculated precision that it only destroys througha specific portion and the mountain remains standing.
(02:45):
Strong tunnels give access to many areaswhere access is either impossible or two
time consuming. In this episode ofuntimely, we'll talk about the eighth longest
tunnel in the world, an unfortunateaccident that stained this white mountain forever.
(03:19):
Besides delicious food and beautiful views,France and Italy share another thing, the
Great White Mountain. In French,it is called Tonnel du mont Blanc and
Italian as Monte Bianco, although theFrench version is more recognizable. Mont Blanc
is the tallest of all the mountainsin the Alps, that towers at four
(03:42):
thousand, eight hundred eight meters highor fifteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy
seven feet. Like the famous mountHood that we talked about in episode twelve,
the actual elevation of Mont Blanc's summitvaries due to the amount of snowpack
that covers the peak. Long ago, during the end of the nineteenth century,
people used the railroads to travel fromFrance to Italy or the other way
(04:06):
around, because there was no otherway to get through the mountain. In
nineteen forty six, Count Dino LauraTutino took it upon himself to start digging
through the mountain and open a shorterpassage between the two countries. As an
engineer, he launched the drilling ofmonte Bianco from the Italian side at his
(04:28):
own expense. On the other side, the townspeople of Chamouni agreed with Tutino
and allocated some land for him tosurvey and build a structure. Unfortunately,
Totino was stopped by the Italian government, even though he was able to drill
as deep as two hundred and sixtymeters or eight hundred and fifty three feet.
Nevertheless, the project was abandoned.Some years later, both French and
(04:55):
Italian governments agreed that building a tunnelwould make sense for social economic reasons from
both sides. Discussions about the tunnelcontinued until March nineteen fifty three, where
both countries finally agreed to build atunnel to connect both countries and avoid the
long commute around the mountain. Innineteen fifty seven, both Italian and French
(05:18):
parliaments ratified the agreement, which triggeredthe construction of the mont Blanc Tunnel.
Before the actual construction was planned,two excavation companies were formed to work together
and build the tunnel, one fromthe French side named ATMB or Auto outs
de Tunnel de mont Blanc, andthe other from the Italian side named stmb
(05:42):
or Societies Detonnelle de Monte Bianco.The mountain was surveyed, plants were built,
and in nineteen fifty nine. Theofficial work began in January on the
Italian side, and six months laterthe French side commenced. The two companies
had fifty eight hundred meters or nineteenthousand feet of tunnel to dig in each
(06:03):
side until August fourteenth, nineteen sixtytwo, when the last rock was demolished
and the two countries met in themiddle and exchanged flags. Celebratory drinks followed
this historical moment and were welcomed bythe public. Even though the two countries
of France and Italy spearheaded this monumentaltask, other neighboring countries, such as
(06:27):
Belgium and the United Kingdom greatly benefitedfrom this venture, since this tunnel marked
a more united Europe, both physicallyand fiscally. To give you a sense
of the immense work put into buildingthis tunnel, let me throw some numbers
at you. The tunnel is elevenpoint six one one kilometers long or seven
(06:47):
point two miles from the town ofChamounie, France, in the east to
Cormayer, Italy in the west.The two lane highway is eight point six
meters or twenty eight feet wide.The actual road that goes through the tunnel
is not straightforward, but from eachopening the road goes up in pitch and
then goes down again out on theother side. If you dissected the tunnel
(07:11):
to show a cross section of themountain, it would look like an inverted
small letter V. The highest pointof the tunnel is one thousand, three
hundred ninety five meters or four thousand, five hundred seventy seven feet at the
center. The machine that bore thehole through the tunnel was eighty two tons
and took seven hundred eighty three tonsof explosives to pave the way. A
(07:32):
total of four point six million manhours was spent to complete the tunnel,
and seven hundred seventy one thousand,two hundred forty bolts and sixty six tons
of cement. After three years ofintense road building and work, the mont
Blanc Tunnel was finally completed. Itwas built on the blood and sweat of
(07:54):
many workers from both sides, andin some cases resulted in deaths. During
the years of construction, about twentythree workers lost their lives. On July
sixteenth, nineteen sixty five, thenItalian President Giuseppe Saragat and French President Charles
de gool inaugurated the opening of thetunnel. In Saragat's speech, he says,
(08:16):
about the tunnel, this work ofpeace which we are inaugurating today is
for the world a symbol of willingnessand trust in the virtue of the work
of humans, which builds day afterday the life of nations. Three days
later, at six in the morninglocal time, mont Blanc Tunnel opened from
both sides and allowed the private andcommercial vehicles to pass through. The one
(08:41):
way toll from each side at thattime was about a dollar fifty US in
nineteen sixty five, which is nowten dollars in twenty nineteen dollars, although
today the toll will cost you aboutfifty one US dollars one way and their
return is a bit higher. Throughthe years, the tunnel was inspected,
checked and upgraded. In nineteen ninety, fireproof shelters and surveillance cameras were installed.
(09:07):
A patrol from both sides rolled inand out of the mountain to insure
safety or assist any travelers that mayneed help. Approximately two million vehicles used
the tunnel for personal travel, butit is also used by commercial trucks and
vehicles to carry goods from one countryto another, and for thirty four years,
(09:28):
this man made marvel inside the mountainwas the best and was never blemished
with any major incidents until the yearnineteen ninety nine. Gilbert the Graves was
born in Belgium and frequently traveled acrossEurope, transporting consumer goods back and forth
(09:48):
like any other day. March twentyfourth, nineteen ninety nine, he was
hauling nine tons of marjarine and twelvetons of flour aboard a Volvo tractor trailer.
Since he was carrying consumable goods,this trailer was equipped with refrigeration to
keep optimal temperature. Gilbert expertly navigatedthrough the sharp switchbacks of the Alps.
(10:11):
He had done this many times before, so it was an easy haul.
Around ten forty six in the morning, the truck entered the French side of
the Mont Blanc Tunnel, heading towardsItaly. The truck's loud engine rumbled and
echoed inside the tunnel. Since itwas still ski season in the Alps.
There were several cars as well,armed with ski racks and packed bags.
(10:35):
About six minutes in the tunnel,Gilbert started to notice several vehicles from the
other side flashing their headlights. Healso began hearing cars blaring their horns.
He looked to his side, thenthe other, and then his eyes made
its way up the rear view mirror. To his absolute shock, there were
several pillars of white smoke coming outof the trailer his trail. Gilbert looked
(11:01):
ahead and made his way to theside and pulled over. Once the truck
was at a complete stop on theside, Gilbert grabbed his fire extinguisher inside
the cab, shut off the engine, and got out of the truck to
put out the fire. As hewas walking to the back, Gilbert readied
the fire extinguisher when all of asudden, the trailer exploded into a huge
(11:24):
fireball and spread the fire on allsides. Gilbert was taken aback and started
to run away from the truck towardsthe Italian side of the tunnel. He
was about five kilometers or three pointone miles from the exit, so he
made a run for it. Onthe other side of the burning truck,
were about fifty people inside their vehiclestrapped inside the blazing inferno. The margarine
(11:48):
acted his fuel and turned the whitesmoke into black, noxious fumes, which
made it impossible to see anything.On top of this, another truck also
leveling inside the tunnel, was carryingwhat was believed to be chlorine and was
caught in the fire. The airturned toxic. Over the next ten minutes,
(12:11):
the tunnel became a chimney of fire, smoke, and blistering heat.
The temperature inside the tunnel shot upto one thousand and eight hundred degrees fahrenheit,
which was about a little under athousand degrees celsius. Ten drivers tried
to make a U turn to goback, but the fumes overwhelmed everyone inside
(12:31):
the tunnel and made it hard tobreathe. Tires from cars started to burst
due to the heat, and theemergency telephone wires began to melt. The
walls of the tunnel began to disintegrateand exposed layers of rock. A few
drivers managed to get out of theirvehicles to get away, but the fumes
(12:52):
caught up to them and the toxicair suffocated their lungs. Without oxygen,
many met the same fate and asphyxiated. Though some were able to get further
away, the tunnel did not haveany exit routes other than the two entrances,
so their lungs gave out. Somepeople found their way inside fireproof shelters,
(13:13):
but these shelters were not built towithstand the intense heat of the explosion.
The fire doors were constructed to protectagainst four hours of fire and fury.
It was hell. The black smokereached the tunnels opening at the Italian
side and got the attention of patrolmanPelucio Tinazi t Nazi, whose nickname was
(13:37):
Padino, realized what was happening,so he got a hold of a breathing
mask and jumped on his patrol motorcycleto try and save someone. He found
an unconscious Maurice Libras, a Frenchtruck driver, and pulled him aside one
of the shelters. He radioed thetunnel control room to let them know where
he left Maurice and that he wasgoing to go further inside. That was
(14:01):
the last radio communication ever received fromTinazi. The brave story of Berluccio the
Nazi have conflicting reports. Some sayhe saved ten lives. Some say that
was not possible given the gravity ofthe fire and air toxicity, but whether
he saved one life or ten,Berluccio Tinnazi unfortunately died trying. His body
(14:24):
was later found close to the truckthat Gilbert was driving, and there was
almost nothing left to his motorcycle asit has melted with the tunnel floor.
The smoke detectors inside the tunnel alsoalerted the French side. A fire alarm
was pulled somewhere near the entrance onItaly side. Then a phone call was
(14:45):
made in one of the emergency boothsfar away from the fire. Nine minutes
after the fire started, both sidesof the tunnels were closed off to prevent
more vehicles from getting trapped inside.Within thirty minutes, over fifty firefighters from
France, Italy and Switzerland bound togetherto fight the inferno. A team of
(15:09):
fourteen French firefighters got as close asthree hundred meters or three hundred twenty eight
yards from the truck, but thesmoke and the heat became too unbearable.
The group of firefighters hid behind afireproof shelter. Later they were rescued by
another crew using ventilation ducks, buttheir captain died from injuries at the hospital.
(15:31):
Even with their combined efforts, thefire raged for fifty two hours,
and it took at least a weekfor the tunnel to cool down where it
was deemed safe for the firefighters andrescuers to go inside. The firefighters were
only able to go inside the charredtunnel in short bursts due to the toxic
fumes that still emanate from the tunnel. The nauseating smell reached outside the tunnel
(15:56):
and exhausted firefighters left the tunnel withblackened faces, ice stinging, and every
one of them coughing. Even withheavy duty breathing equipment. There were about
twenty trucks and approximately eleven cars inside. Inside some vehicles where bodies slumped over
their steering wheels, defeated by panicand asphyxiation. In many cases, it
(16:21):
became impossible to identify bodies that turninto ash or have entirely burned. In
total, the death toll from theMont Blanc Tunnel fire was forty one.
Those among who died included a Frenchfamily of five, an Italian family of
four. A firefighter from France woulddie from smoke inhalation while attempting to fight
(16:42):
the blaze, and a British bornlorry driver, Martin Cairns. The coroner's
report stated that the people who weretrapped inside the tunnel all died within fifteen
minutes, a small reprieve despite thedevastation. Even though the fireproof shelter did
not completely protect those who sought refugeinside from the intense heat, there were
(17:07):
at least seven people saved. Freshair flow ducts from underneath the tunnel floor
were also used by rescuers to removesurvivors. Out Of the fifty or so
trapped inside the tunnel, a totaltwelve survived the ordeal, but the damage
was done. The tunnel shelters weredemolished, ceramic tiles from the ceiling fell
(17:30):
on the ground, and over akilometer of the road the asphalt was damaged.
The damage was not only to thephysical aspect of the tunnel, but
it also set back the small economiesof the town's near the tunnel. Tourism
decreased, and the closure of thetunnel basically cut off all goods in industries
that relied on the tunnel's ease oftransportation. Restaurants and merchants reported a significant
(17:55):
drop in profit. One shop ownereven said that the closure of the tone
set back its business finances about fortyyears. Even with a suggested alternative route
of the Fuju Tunnel between France andItaly, the closure of the mont Blanc
Tunnel was greatly missed. The engineeringworld was shocked with the degree of devastation
(18:18):
that happened to the mont Blanc Tunnel. After the investigation, it was concluded
that the following caused the fire fromthe truck to spread and intensify the five
hundred and fifty liters of diesel inthe truck, the tonts of margarine and
flour, and the combustible foam thatlined the refrigeration, But what exactly caused
(18:41):
the fire is still unknown. Therewas speculation that a lit cigarette was thrown
at the truck which caught the edgeof the trailer, while another theory states
that it was caused by a mechanicalmalfunction of the truck. It was also
proved that the nearest smoke detectors werenot working and emergency crews working the fire
did not use the same radio frequenciesas the control center, which made communication
(19:06):
impossible. It took three years torepair the tunnel, and this opportunity was
taken to upgrade its safety features.The STMB paid out thirteen point five million
euros, which was at the timearound seventeen million US dollars to the surviving
families of the victims. The totalof their repair was four hundred eighty one
(19:29):
million euros and also resulted in thecreation of a unified company that operated the
tunnel instead of two. On Marchninth, two thousand and two, at
one pm local time, the montBlanc Tunnel reopened to the public. The
toll was free of charge for theentire weekend. A British couple vacationing in
the Alps entered the tunnel three yearsafter the accident, welcomed by cheers from
(19:55):
onlookers and honking from vehicles in lineto follow. In January two thousand and
five, a court in France triedsixteen people in companies with the charges of
manslaughter. Those indicted included Gilbert theGraves, the driver of the truck,
an official from the French Ministry ofPublic Works, Volvo the truck manufacturer,
(20:18):
and both the atm B and STMBcompanies. In July of the same year,
Only thirteen of the sixteen defendants werefound guilty. The Graves received a
four month suspension, The charges againstVolvo were dropped and several other individuals were
suspended and given fines. Girard Broncoli, the head of tunnel security, was
(20:40):
given six months of imprisonment with anadditional two years of suspension. The new
unified company to oversee the tunnel iscalled the European Economic Interest Grouping of the
mont Blanc Tunnel Now. The newtunnel was rebuilt with safety in mind.
Every morning, firefighters test their responsespeed in case of an emergency. Better
(21:03):
communication devices were installed along the tunnel, with alarm systems and emergency phones available
at one hundred meters or one hundrednine yards apart, all of which are
connected to a central command station.Over one hundred twenty cameras are focused on
several parts of the tunnel, watchedover by command patrol. There are a
(21:26):
total of thirty seven shelters linked byan escape tunnel and are equipped to withstand
over one thousand degrees celsius of heat. Each shelter has firefighting equipment and phones
connected to central command. Four watertanks that can hold up to one hundred
twenty cubic meters of water are readilyavailable in case of emergencies. Three evacuation
(21:49):
tunnels were built, which also actsas air vents, even though seventy six
steel fans were installed to remove smokeinto an exhaust channel. Smack Dab in
the middle of the tunnel is asmall fire station with a firetruck in emergency,
vehicles ready to deploy. Sensors wereinstalled all over the tunnel and at
(22:10):
both entrances. Infrared sensors are postedto scan all vehicles as it enters the
tunnel. If any of the trucksor vehicles entering the tunnel are within the
cusp of overheating, they are notallowed to enter until the engine is cooled
down. There are also three thousand, eight hundred sixty smoke and fire detectors
inside the tunnel. Every one hundredfifty meters or five hundred feet. Purple
(22:36):
flashing lights remind drivers to stay ata safe and require distance of one hundred
fifty meters apart. Once vehicles areat the toll plaza, their entrance was
closely monitored at regular intervals. Themaximum speed allowed is seventy kilometers per hour.
Or about forty five miles per hour. Lastly, any dangerous goods or
(22:57):
chemicals are not allowed to be transportedthrough the mont Blanc Tunnel. All trucks
and cargo are inspected at a siteclose to the tunnel well before they reached
the entrance. Tunnels around the worldperformed several safety tracks after this incident at
mont Blanc, a European council designedand implemented minimum safety standards on all tunnels
(23:22):
following this accident, Any new tunnelconstructed after nineteen ninety nine mandated these precautions,
while forty eight others needed to beupdated by two thousand and five.
Two memorials stand in the city ofChamounie, France, on the access road
to the tunnel. First, awhite sculpture in the shape of the Alps
(23:44):
with mont Blanc in the middle,with an opening at the bottom and thirty
nine gold rods piercing through the mountaininside the tunnel were erected to remember the
events of March twenty fourth. Tothe right front of the sculpture is a
plaque with the names of those whoperished in the tunnel. On the Italian
side, a plaque with Perluccut Nazi'sname is emblazoned in bronze. Ten years
(24:07):
after the accident, the tunnel wasclosed from ninety in the morning to twelve
in the afternoon in honor of thevictims. Hundreds of motorcyclists paid respects to
the Nazi by riding through the tunnelsimultaneously. Perluccuti Nazi was awarded posthumously for
his bravery and heroism by the Italiangovernment. Thank you for listening to this
(24:44):
episode of Untimely. I'm curious toknow what you think about this episode.
Have you ever gone through the MontBlanc Tunnel? Drop us a note at
Untimely podcast at gmail dot com.Also, if you learn something new about
this episode and would like to listento more, spread the word to your
friends and family. Subscribe to ourpodcast, then rain and re view us
on your favorite podcast platform. Ifyou would like to suggest topics, connect
(25:08):
with us on Twitter at Untimely Podcasts. We'd love to hear from you.
Transporting goods from one country to anotheris made possible by the men and women
of the trucking industry. Trucks orlorries ship almost every type of commodity needed
and wanted by consumers, whether it'sa load of baking ingredients for a family
owned bakery or your long awaited catalogorder. Truck drivers make this leap from
(00:33):
a warehouse to a front door forour convenience a possibility. One of these
lorry drivers is Smartin Cairns. Martinwas born in the United Kingdom from Newcastle
upon Tyne. In nineteen seventy six, after graduation, he moved to Rotterdam
to drive for a Dutch hauling firm. Seems easy enough for Martin, driving
(00:56):
to different countries, seeing different sitesand hearing different sounds. Not only was
he doing this job for himself,but for his fiancee and child. You
see, Martin is working extra hardnow that he was an expectant father.
In the early months of nineteen ninetynine, Martin was driving his usual route
(01:17):
on his lor His boss, LeoBurgworth, was in contact with Martin on
the radio throughout the drive, justto check in. Sometime after ten the
morning, Martin radioed Leo and said, hey, radio communications may stop because
I'm entering a tunnel, Leo acknowledged. An hour later, Leo tried Martin
(01:38):
back, but there was no answeron the radio. Leo asked himself,
maybe there was traffic in the tunnel, so he looked at the lori's location
via satellite link. Now, usuallythis satellite will show blinking green dots that
represent all of the active lorris enroute to their destinations. Leo tried looking
(02:00):
for the green dots showing Martin's location. He looked closely and carefully, but
cannot find it. He was gone, like it just disappeared. You were
listening to Untimely, a podcast aboutevents in earlier or recent history that resulted
(02:23):
in untimely fatalities and damages in itswake. I am your host, Lynne.
I am sure that at least oneof you agrees with me that tunnels
are quite the engineering marvel. Imagineblowing up a mountain with such surgical and
calculated precision that it only destroys througha specific portion and the mountain remains standing.
(02:45):
Strong tunnels give access to many areaswhere access is either impossible or two
time consuming. In this episode ofuntimely, we'll talk about the eighth longest
tunnel in the world, an unfortunateaccident that stained this white mountain forever.
(03:19):
Besides delicious food and beautiful views,France and Italy share another thing, the
Great White Mountain. In French,it is called Tonnel du mont Blanc and
Italian as Monte Bianco, although theFrench version is more recognizable. Mont Blanc
is the tallest of all the mountainsin the Alps, that towers at four
(03:42):
thousand, eight hundred eight meters highor fifteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy
seven feet. Like the famous mountHood that we talked about in episode twelve,
the actual elevation of Mont Blanc's summitvaries due to the amount of snowpack
that covers the peak. Long ago, during the end of the nineteenth century,
people used the railroads to travel fromFrance to Italy or the other way
(04:06):
around, because there was no otherway to get through the mountain. In
nineteen forty six, Count Dino LauraTutino took it upon himself to start digging
through the mountain and open a shorterpassage between the two countries. As an
engineer, he launched the drilling ofmonte Bianco from the Italian side at his
(04:28):
own expense. On the other side, the townspeople of Chamouni agreed with Tutino
and allocated some land for him tosurvey and build a structure. Unfortunately,
Totino was stopped by the Italian government, even though he was able to drill
as deep as two hundred and sixtymeters or eight hundred and fifty three feet.
Nevertheless, the project was abandoned.Some years later, both French and
(04:55):
Italian governments agreed that building a tunnelwould make sense for social economic reasons from
both sides. Discussions about the tunnelcontinued until March nineteen fifty three, where
both countries finally agreed to build atunnel to connect both countries and avoid the
long commute around the mountain. Innineteen fifty seven, both Italian and French
(05:18):
parliaments ratified the agreement, which triggeredthe construction of the mont Blanc Tunnel.
Before the actual construction was planned,two excavation companies were formed to work together
and build the tunnel, one fromthe French side named ATMB or Auto outs
de Tunnel de mont Blanc, andthe other from the Italian side named stmb
(05:42):
or Societies Detonnelle de Monte Bianco.The mountain was surveyed, plants were built,
and in nineteen fifty nine. Theofficial work began in January on the
Italian side, and six months laterthe French side commenced. The two companies
had fifty eight hundred meters or nineteenthousand feet of tunnel to dig in each
(06:03):
side until August fourteenth, nineteen sixtytwo, when the last rock was demolished
and the two countries met in themiddle and exchanged flags. Celebratory drinks followed
this historical moment and were welcomed bythe public. Even though the two countries
of France and Italy spearheaded this monumentaltask, other neighboring countries, such as
(06:27):
Belgium and the United Kingdom greatly benefitedfrom this venture, since this tunnel marked
a more united Europe, both physicallyand fiscally. To give you a sense
of the immense work put into buildingthis tunnel, let me throw some numbers
at you. The tunnel is elevenpoint six one one kilometers long or seven
(06:47):
point two miles from the town ofChamounie, France, in the east to
Cormayer, Italy in the west.The two lane highway is eight point six
meters or twenty eight feet wide.The actual road that goes through the tunnel
is not straightforward, but from eachopening the road goes up in pitch and
then goes down again out on theother side. If you dissected the tunnel
(07:11):
to show a cross section of themountain, it would look like an inverted
small letter V. The highest pointof the tunnel is one thousand, three
hundred ninety five meters or four thousand, five hundred seventy seven feet at the
center. The machine that bore thehole through the tunnel was eighty two tons
and took seven hundred eighty three tonsof explosives to pave the way. A
(07:32):
total of four point six million manhours was spent to complete the tunnel,
and seven hundred seventy one thousand,two hundred forty bolts and sixty six tons
of cement. After three years ofintense road building and work, the mont
Blanc Tunnel was finally completed. Itwas built on the blood and sweat of
(07:54):
many workers from both sides, andin some cases resulted in deaths. During
the years of construction, about twentythree workers lost their lives. On July
sixteenth, nineteen sixty five, thenItalian President Giuseppe Saragat and French President Charles
de gool inaugurated the opening of thetunnel. In Saragat's speech, he says,
(08:16):
about the tunnel, this work ofpeace which we are inaugurating today is
for the world a symbol of willingnessand trust in the virtue of the work
of humans, which builds day afterday the life of nations. Three days
later, at six in the morninglocal time, mont Blanc Tunnel opened from
both sides and allowed the private andcommercial vehicles to pass through. The one
(08:41):
way toll from each side at thattime was about a dollar fifty US in
nineteen sixty five, which is nowten dollars in twenty nineteen dollars, although
today the toll will cost you aboutfifty one US dollars one way and their
return is a bit higher. Throughthe years, the tunnel was inspected,
checked and upgraded. In nineteen ninety, fireproof shelters and surveillance cameras were installed.
(09:07):
A patrol from both sides rolled inand out of the mountain to insure
safety or assist any travelers that mayneed help. Approximately two million vehicles used
the tunnel for personal travel, butit is also used by commercial trucks and
vehicles to carry goods from one countryto another, and for thirty four years,
(09:28):
this man made marvel inside the mountainwas the best and was never blemished
with any major incidents until the yearnineteen ninety nine. Gilbert the Graves was
born in Belgium and frequently traveled acrossEurope, transporting consumer goods back and forth
(09:48):
like any other day. March twentyfourth, nineteen ninety nine, he was
hauling nine tons of marjarine and twelvetons of flour aboard a Volvo tractor trailer.
Since he was carrying consumable goods,this trailer was equipped with refrigeration to
keep optimal temperature. Gilbert expertly navigatedthrough the sharp switchbacks of the Alps.
(10:11):
He had done this many times before, so it was an easy haul.
Around ten forty six in the morning, the truck entered the French side of
the Mont Blanc Tunnel, heading towardsItaly. The truck's loud engine rumbled and
echoed inside the tunnel. Since itwas still ski season in the Alps.
There were several cars as well,armed with ski racks and packed bags.
(10:35):
About six minutes in the tunnel,Gilbert started to notice several vehicles from the
other side flashing their headlights. Healso began hearing cars blaring their horns.
He looked to his side, thenthe other, and then his eyes made
its way up the rear view mirror. To his absolute shock, there were
several pillars of white smoke coming outof the trailer his trail. Gilbert looked
(11:01):
ahead and made his way to theside and pulled over. Once the truck
was at a complete stop on theside, Gilbert grabbed his fire extinguisher inside
the cab, shut off the engine, and got out of the truck to
put out the fire. As hewas walking to the back, Gilbert readied
the fire extinguisher when all of asudden, the trailer exploded into a huge
(11:24):
fireball and spread the fire on allsides. Gilbert was taken aback and started
to run away from the truck towardsthe Italian side of the tunnel. He
was about five kilometers or three pointone miles from the exit, so he
made a run for it. Onthe other side of the burning truck,
were about fifty people inside their vehiclestrapped inside the blazing inferno. The margarine
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acted his fuel and turned the whitesmoke into black, noxious fumes, which
made it impossible to see anything.On top of this, another truck also
leveling inside the tunnel, was carryingwhat was believed to be chlorine and was
caught in the fire. The airturned toxic. Over the next ten minutes,
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the tunnel became a chimney of fire, smoke, and blistering heat.
The temperature inside the tunnel shot upto one thousand and eight hundred degrees fahrenheit,
which was about a little under athousand degrees celsius. Ten drivers tried
to make a U turn to goback, but the fumes overwhelmed everyone inside
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the tunnel and made it hard tobreathe. Tires from cars started to burst
due to the heat, and theemergency telephone wires began to melt. The
walls of the tunnel began to disintegrateand exposed layers of rock. A few
drivers managed to get out of theirvehicles to get away, but the fumes
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caught up to them and the toxicair suffocated their lungs. Without oxygen,
many met the same fate and asphyxiated. Though some were able to get further
away, the tunnel did not haveany exit routes other than the two entrances,
so their lungs gave out. Somepeople found their way inside fireproof shelters,
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but these shelters were not built towithstand the intense heat of the explosion.
The fire doors were constructed to protectagainst four hours of fire and fury.
It was hell. The black smokereached the tunnels opening at the Italian
side and got the attention of patrolmanPelucio Tinazi t Nazi, whose nickname was
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Padino, realized what was happening,so he got a hold of a breathing
mask and jumped on his patrol motorcycleto try and save someone. He found
an unconscious Maurice Libras, a Frenchtruck driver, and pulled him aside one
of the shelters. He radioed thetunnel control room to let them know where
he left Maurice and that he wasgoing to go further inside. That was
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the last radio communication ever received fromTinazi. The brave story of Berluccio the
Nazi have conflicting reports. Some sayhe saved ten lives. Some say that
was not possible given the gravity ofthe fire and air toxicity, but whether
he saved one life or ten,Berluccio Tinnazi unfortunately died trying. His body
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was later found close to the truckthat Gilbert was driving, and there was
almost nothing left to his motorcycle asit has melted with the tunnel floor.
The smoke detectors inside the tunnel alsoalerted the French side. A fire alarm
was pulled somewhere near the entrance onItaly side. Then a phone call was
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made in one of the emergency boothsfar away from the fire. Nine minutes
after the fire started, both sidesof the tunnels were closed off to prevent
more vehicles from getting trapped inside.Within thirty minutes, over fifty firefighters from
France, Italy and Switzerland bound togetherto fight the inferno. A team of
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fourteen French firefighters got as close asthree hundred meters or three hundred twenty eight
yards from the truck, but thesmoke and the heat became too unbearable.
The group of firefighters hid behind afireproof shelter. Later they were rescued by
another crew using ventilation ducks, buttheir captain died from injuries at the hospital.
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Even with their combined efforts, thefire raged for fifty two hours,
and it took at least a weekfor the tunnel to cool down where it
was deemed safe for the firefighters andrescuers to go inside. The firefighters were
only able to go inside the charredtunnel in short bursts due to the toxic
fumes that still emanate from the tunnel. The nauseating smell reached outside the tunnel
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and exhausted firefighters left the tunnel withblackened faces, ice stinging, and every
one of them coughing. Even withheavy duty breathing equipment. There were about
twenty trucks and approximately eleven cars inside. Inside some vehicles where bodies slumped over
their steering wheels, defeated by panicand asphyxiation. In many cases, it
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became impossible to identify bodies that turninto ash or have entirely burned. In
total, the death toll from theMont Blanc Tunnel fire was forty one.
Those among who died included a Frenchfamily of five, an Italian family of
four. A firefighter from France woulddie from smoke inhalation while attempting to fight
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the blaze, and a British bornlorry driver, Martin Cairns. The coroner's
report stated that the people who weretrapped inside the tunnel all died within fifteen
minutes, a small reprieve despite thedevastation. Even though the fireproof shelter did
not completely protect those who sought refugeinside from the intense heat, there were
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at least seven people saved. Freshair flow ducts from underneath the tunnel floor
were also used by rescuers to removesurvivors. Out Of the fifty or so
trapped inside the tunnel, a totaltwelve survived the ordeal, but the damage
was done. The tunnel shelters weredemolished, ceramic tiles from the ceiling fell
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on the ground, and over akilometer of the road the asphalt was damaged.
The damage was not only to thephysical aspect of the tunnel, but
it also set back the small economiesof the town's near the tunnel. Tourism
decreased, and the closure of thetunnel basically cut off all goods in industries
that relied on the tunnel's ease oftransportation. Restaurants and merchants reported a significant
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drop in profit. One shop ownereven said that the closure of the tone
set back its business finances about fortyyears. Even with a suggested alternative route
of the Fuju Tunnel between France andItaly, the closure of the mont Blanc
Tunnel was greatly missed. The engineeringworld was shocked with the degree of devastation
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that happened to the mont Blanc Tunnel. After the investigation, it was concluded
that the following caused the fire fromthe truck to spread and intensify the five
hundred and fifty liters of diesel inthe truck, the tonts of margarine and
flour, and the combustible foam thatlined the refrigeration, But what exactly caused
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the fire is still unknown. Therewas speculation that a lit cigarette was thrown
at the truck which caught the edgeof the trailer, while another theory states
that it was caused by a mechanicalmalfunction of the truck. It was also
proved that the nearest smoke detectors werenot working and emergency crews working the fire
did not use the same radio frequenciesas the control center, which made communication
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impossible. It took three years torepair the tunnel, and this opportunity was
taken to upgrade its safety features.The STMB paid out thirteen point five million
euros, which was at the timearound seventeen million US dollars to the surviving
families of the victims. The totalof their repair was four hundred eighty one
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million euros and also resulted in thecreation of a unified company that operated the
tunnel instead of two. On Marchninth, two thousand and two, at
one pm local time, the montBlanc Tunnel reopened to the public. The
toll was free of charge for theentire weekend. A British couple vacationing in
the Alps entered the tunnel three yearsafter the accident, welcomed by cheers from
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onlookers and honking from vehicles in lineto follow. In January two thousand and
five, a court in France triedsixteen people in companies with the charges of
manslaughter. Those indicted included Gilbert theGraves, the driver of the truck,
an official from the French Ministry ofPublic Works, Volvo the truck manufacturer,
(20:18):
and both the atm B and STMBcompanies. In July of the same year,
Only thirteen of the sixteen defendants werefound guilty. The Graves received a
four month suspension, The charges againstVolvo were dropped and several other individuals were
suspended and given fines. Girard Broncoli, the head of tunnel security, was
(20:40):
given six months of imprisonment with anadditional two years of suspension. The new
unified company to oversee the tunnel iscalled the European Economic Interest Grouping of the
mont Blanc Tunnel Now. The newtunnel was rebuilt with safety in mind.
Every morning, firefighters test their responsespeed in case of an emergency. Better
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communication devices were installed along the tunnel, with alarm systems and emergency phones available
at one hundred meters or one hundrednine yards apart, all of which are
connected to a central command station.Over one hundred twenty cameras are focused on
several parts of the tunnel, watchedover by command patrol. There are a
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total of thirty seven shelters linked byan escape tunnel and are equipped to withstand
over one thousand degrees celsius of heat. Each shelter has firefighting equipment and phones
connected to central command. Four watertanks that can hold up to one hundred
twenty cubic meters of water are readilyavailable in case of emergencies. Three evacuation
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tunnels were built, which also actsas air vents, even though seventy six
steel fans were installed to remove smokeinto an exhaust channel. Smack Dab in
the middle of the tunnel is asmall fire station with a firetruck in emergency,
vehicles ready to deploy. Sensors wereinstalled all over the tunnel and at
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both entrances. Infrared sensors are postedto scan all vehicles as it enters the
tunnel. If any of the trucksor vehicles entering the tunnel are within the
cusp of overheating, they are notallowed to enter until the engine is cooled
down. There are also three thousand, eight hundred sixty smoke and fire detectors
inside the tunnel. Every one hundredfifty meters or five hundred feet. Purple
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flashing lights remind drivers to stay ata safe and require distance of one hundred
fifty meters apart. Once vehicles areat the toll plaza, their entrance was
closely monitored at regular intervals. Themaximum speed allowed is seventy kilometers per hour.
Or about forty five miles per hour. Lastly, any dangerous goods or
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chemicals are not allowed to be transportedthrough the mont Blanc Tunnel. All trucks
and cargo are inspected at a siteclose to the tunnel well before they reached
the entrance. Tunnels around the worldperformed several safety tracks after this incident at
mont Blanc, a European council designedand implemented minimum safety standards on all tunnels
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following this accident, Any new tunnelconstructed after nineteen ninety nine mandated these precautions,
while forty eight others needed to beupdated by two thousand and five.
Two memorials stand in the city ofChamounie, France, on the access road
to the tunnel. First, awhite sculpture in the shape of the Alps
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with mont Blanc in the middle,with an opening at the bottom and thirty
nine gold rods piercing through the mountaininside the tunnel were erected to remember the
events of March twenty fourth. Tothe right front of the sculpture is a
plaque with the names of those whoperished in the tunnel. On the Italian
side, a plaque with Perluccut Nazi'sname is emblazoned in bronze. Ten years
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after the accident, the tunnel wasclosed from ninety in the morning to twelve
in the afternoon in honor of thevictims. Hundreds of motorcyclists paid respects to
the Nazi by riding through the tunnelsimultaneously. Perluccuti Nazi was awarded posthumously for
his bravery and heroism by the Italiangovernment. Thank you for listening to this
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episode of Untimely. I'm curious toknow what you think about this episode.
Have you ever gone through the MontBlanc Tunnel? Drop us a note at
Untimely podcast at gmail dot com.Also, if you learn something new about
this episode and would like to listento more, spread the word to your
friends and family. Subscribe to ourpodcast, then rain and re view us
on your favorite podcast platform. Ifyou would like to suggest topics, connect
(25:08):
with us on Twitter at Untimely Podcasts. We'd love to hear from you.
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