chimney fire. The trucker’s load of seven tons of margarine until then was consid- ered to be a safe substance, but surrounded by the highly flammable polystyrene insula- tion of the refrigerator trailer, the cargo transformed into something akin to napalm. Also, though some of the drivers caught behind Degraves’ Volvo nearest the entrance did attempt to reverse or make u-turns to escape, vehicles closest to the blaze wouldn’t start because of the lack of oxygen. What isn’t ironic is the way Pierlucio
Tizanni’s bravery has been honored. He was awarded posthumously the Medaglia d'Oro al Valore Civile, Italy’s highest civilian honor for bravery, and a gold medal for heroism by Switzerland’s Federation Inter- national de Motocyclisme. A plaque com- memorating Tizzani’s heroic act was also installed at the Italian entrance to the Mont
Blanc Tunnel. But the most impressive trib- ute is made every year by the hundreds of motorcyclists who travel to the Mont Blanc Tunnel on March 24 for the “Spadino Memorial.” With the tunnel closed to all traffic except motorcycles, riders of all types swarm over both lanes to ride from one end of the tunnel to the other and back in a somber homage to Peirlucio Tinazzi’s sacrifice. Following the fateful day of the fire,
France and Italy spent three years renovat- ing the safety features of the tunnel. Instead of control rooms at each end of the tunnel, one central control room was constructed to avoid communication problems. Quar- ters were also built for a full-time fire crew in the middle of tunnel, and new exits for escape to a ventilated passageway under the tunnel’s surface were also installed, along with
new, more protective safety
compartments. Like it or not, when you choose to ride a
motorcycle, you automatically join a com- munity that is often judged by the non-rid- ing world on the basis of the behavior of its most notorious members, whether engen- dering respect or contempt. As members of that community, we should be proud to be associated in any way with the motorcyclist Pierlucio Tizzani.
For more information about Pierlucio Tin- azzi, I’d recommend reading “Backmarker: Searching For Spadino,” a poignant account by Mark Gardiner, author of Riding Man. The article can be found at motorcycle-usa. com. For an excellent examination of the fire itself, search
youtube.com for “Seconds From Disaster: Tunnel Inferno.”
www.mortonsbmw.com
www.mortonsbmw.com
March 2017 BMW OWNERS NEWS
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