shinysideup A measure of a motorcyclist
By Ron Davis #111820 ON MARCH
24,
1999, Italian Pierlu- cio “Spadino” Tin- azzi mounted his BMW K75 and headed out to his security job at the Mont Blanc Tunnel,
the passage deep beneath the highest peaks of the Alps that straddle the border between Italy and France. Part of Tinazzi’s job was to patrol back and forth through the tunnel, coming to the aid of motorists and keeping traf- fic moving through the seven and a half mile shaft. The Mont Blanc Tunnel was an
engineering marvel when it was fin- ished in 1965 after four years of con- struction. By 1999 an estimated 5,000 cars, trucks and motorcycles were passing through the tunnel daily, sav- ing the motorists at least seven hours of driving time through mountain passes when transiting from south- eastern to northern Europe. Tinazzi had been drawn to motor-
cycles all his life and had even turned down a promotion which would have had him riding a desk in the control room instead of a bike since he enjoyed riding so much. As he climbed the mountain to the tunnel entrance at about 4,500 feet above sea level, the sun shone brightly and a southern breeze, unusual for the area, carried the promise of spring. After making one of his morning runs, Pier- lucio paused for a break just outside the French entrance. At that moment, a white Volvo
FH12 tractor trailer headed toward Italy was approaching the halfway point in the tunnel when the driver, Belgian Gilbert Degraves, noticed white smoke emerging from under the truck’s cab. Degraves pulled over
12 BMW OWNERS NEWS March 2017 Pierlucio Tinazzi
cheting off the tunnel walls. Melting wires doused the tunnel lights and the black, cyanide-laced smoke reduced visibility to zero. Meanwhile, alarms at the French
entrance began to sound. Pierlucio “Spa- dino” Tinazzi quickly grabbed his helmet and breathing equipment, started his BMW and began the three mile trek toward the tunnel’s center. As he encountered panicked drivers on foot, he directed them to stay low, take breaths near ventilation ducts, and use the tunnel sides to find their way out; others, too overcome to walk, he carried out on the back of his bike. Somehow threading his way through the smoke while dodging bodies
and burning wreckage, Tinazzi made four trips in and out of the hellish
and jumped down to grab his fire extin- guisher, but almost immediately the under- side of the truck burst into flames, and smoke began filling the tunnel. Degraves began running for the Italian entrance to get assistance. What had seemed initially like a simple
engine problem within minutes became a raging inferno, belching thick black smoke flowing toward the northern entrance and engulfing trucks and cars stalled behind Degraves’ semi. As the fire spread, explod- ing tires and gas tanks sent shrapnel rico-
scene, but on his fifth trip in he discovered an alive but unconscious truck driver he couldn’t get onto his pillion seat. Tinazzi dragged the driver to “Niche #20,” a small, pressurized refuge compartment with a fire door designed to protect those inside for two hours. The Mont Blanc Tunnel Fire burned for
over 50 hours, reaching temperatures esti- mated at over 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and is estimated to have been equivalent to a blaze created by five to seven flaming fuel tankers. As Tinazzi’s BMW melted into the pavement, which itself had begun to burn, he and the driver perished. Of the 50 drivers and passengers who had found themselves trapped behind the burning tractor trailer, 37 died within the first 15 minutes (accounts of the number of deaths differ), but at least 10 survivors emerged, all claiming they owed their lives to “the man on the motor- cycle.” While other first responders and fire fighters had tried to enter the tunnel, they were rebuffed by the fire and smoke, and none made more than one attempt. In fact, many had to be rescued themselves. The day of the tragic Mont Blanc Tunnel
Fire was full of sad ironies. Forensic investi- gators theorize that the fire in Degraves’ truck had begun before he even entered the tunnel, probably caused by a cigarette tossed from an oncoming car and sucked into the air intake above his cab, where it ignited the air filter. (All vehicles now pass through a thermal scanner before entering the tun- nel.) Subsequent simulations of the tragedy indicate the conflagration could have been avoided if Degraves had never stopped, since by pulling over, the fire suddenly got enough oxygen to erupt, igniting his fuel tanks and cargo. Also accelerating the fire was the uncharacteristic southern breeze and an Italian control room operator’s deci- sion to flood the southern half of the tunnel with fresh air to protect drivers he saw flee- ing toward the southern entrance. The tun- nel had effectively become a colossal
the club
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