Region | Avignon: a guard of honor for Michel-Ange Santamaria
Lieutenant-Colonel Michel-Ange Santamaria, 60, has asserted his rights to retirement. His exit from the barracks on Friday evening was prompted by a guard of honor from the Avignon firefighters, to the sound of screaming sirens and flashing lights from emergency vehicles. The head of the main rescue center then said “goodbye” to each and every one of his colleagues.
First a trainee at the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of 13 in 1986, head of the center in Lambesc then in L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, he was appointed in 2007 to the rescue center d’Avignon, also occupying the functions of president of the Departmental Union of firefighters of Vaucluse and administrator within the National Federation.
But for Michelangelo Santamaria, it’s only a goodbye, because he wanted to stay in action. “After 40 years of service as a professional and voluntary firefighter, I am not completely giving up because I am continuing to work as a volunteer firefighter within the Sdis to support the Radio Network of the Future (RRF) project, a system initiated by the Ministry of the Interior in order to pool all the activities of the internal security and emergency forces, he pointed out. It is however with a pinch in the heart that I leave this beautiful barracks for which I gave everything, but it was time for me to move on…“Michelangelo Santamaria also retains his national responsibilities to deal in particular with climate and civil security issues which today”have been on the verge of breaking since that big summer we had last year” he added.
It is Commander Geoffrey Casu, spokesman for the firefighters of France, who from today takes control of the barracks pending the appointment of the new head of the center. Michel-Ange Santamaria will be honored by the mayor of Avignon, Cécile Helle, on February 8 at the Hôtel de Ville in Avignon.