SIENA - A fire broke out at just before midnight on Wednesday night at Siena’s Torre del Mangia, the famous clocktower which overlooks the Piazza del Campo, where the bi-annual Palio takes place. 

 It is thought that the fire started because some of the “pignattelle”, the wax torches that are traditionally lit up on top of the buildings giving onto the square at the end of the race, fell. The last wooden level of the tower, just under the bell, then caught fire. 

 When firefighters arrived at the tower, police officers and a Red Cross volunteer who happened to be having dinner in the square, having seen the fire, had already intervened with fire extinguishers available at Siena’s Palazzo Pubblico. 

 Mayor of Siena Bruno Valentini also came rushing with the fire brigade commander, and other officials of the Commune. They were not far away, celebrating the Contrada dell’Onda’s recent Palio win. 

 “We helped out,” said Valentini, talking to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, “looking for all the extinguishers because they were not enough for the firefighters: the plank has nothing beneath it, so the the fire was also fed by the air stream beneath. The fire corresponds exactly to the position of the torches, so we imagine that these have been overturned; the strong wind probably helped the flames, but the wax is not flammable so at the moment I can not explain what happened.”

 It was not easy to extinguish the fire, whose flames could be seen throughout much of the city, especially because of the narrow staircase you have to walk up to get to the top of the tower. 

 "We made a sort of human chain,” added the mayor “because the stairs are very narrow and at some points we can’t fit two people. There is no substantial damage, but it caused a lot of fear.”

 The “pignattelle” torches were lit up after the Palio by the Commune workers, experts, who have done so for years and are the only ones to have access to the Tower at that time. The acrid smoke of the fire caused one firefighter difficulty breathing, so 118 was called for a mild problem. No damage has been caused to the tower, but it will be closed for inspection.

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