VICENZA, ITALY— With housing construction at U.S. Army Garrison Italy in full swing, the garrison’s fire department is bolstering staff and increasing training to prepare for when families once again live on post.
This quarter, they’ve onboarded eight new firefighters and have been putting their team through a rigorous, four-month academic and physical training process, said Derek Sardinta, the department’s assistant fire chief.
“We cover everything from hazardous material to medical, fire protection and technical rescue,” Sardinta said. “We are the one-stop-shop.”
Since 2021, no families have lived on post. The Army is funding a large-scale, multi-year construction project to rebuild family housing, to include 428 homes on Villaggio and 50 apartments on Caserma Ederle. Once built, firefighters must be ready to support the community.
Each firefighter completes 120 hours of training per calendar year, works 12 to 48-hour shifts, and must comply with Italian and American regulations. Within the last year, the department has gained over 200 certifications, including Hazmat Awareness and Operations, Fire Fighter I and II, and High Fire Risk.
“Every month focuses on a different subject,” Sardinta said. “In January, we focused on confined space and technical rescue. This month, it’s hazardous materials.”
The robust training program yielded exemplary results recently as the department has exceeded Department of Defense requirements. According to the DoD standards, each station must have a complete response time of seven minutes or less 90 percent of the time. The department is currently exceeding this goal at a 94 percent success rate, Sardinta said.
Things have surely changed in recent years.
In the 1990s, the garrison had an all-Italian response team off-site from the military installations. Today, it’s a full-service, DoD-regulated team. Kenneth Helgerson, the garrison’s former fire chief, took pride in the strides that his team has made in training during his tenure.
“This particular jurisdiction has gone through an evolution,” said Helgerson, who departed the department in February 2024.
The department currently consists of four fire stations, two at Camp Darby, one at Caserma Ederle, and one at Caserma Del Din. They are now looking to expand to five stations, including a facility on Villaggio, to provide increased protection for Soldiers and families.
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