It is a fine tribute to the firefighter who died too soon: the driving training tracks now bear the name of the captain respected by all.
Saturday, June 3, a tribute was paid to Mario Boffelli, in the presence of his family, his friends and his fellow firefighters from all over the department, Pierre Castel, mayor of Quillan and Gilles Alard. Everyone gathered for the inauguration of the Mario-Boffelli driving tracks, in tribute to this captain, a professional firefighter who died too soon. “With his sparkling eye and his happy mustache”, says his friend Marco, this former chief of the Quillan fire center, who died in July 2019 at the age of 62, leaves the memory of a good and courageous man, passionate about his job as a firefighter, about music and very close to his family.
Departing from the barracks, aboard the centre’s red vehicles, firefighters and guests headed for Laval to inaugurate the off-road training tracks, a specialty of which Mario was the initiator and trainer on communal land.
Subsequently, Cédric Benassis took over the maintenance and renovation of these tracks thanks to the collaboration of the company Alary. A stele in honor of Mario was unveiled, followed by the wreath laying by his wife Nicole, his son Pascal and his grandson Mathis, his daughter Virginie, taken by her professional obligations having been unable to be present. Many moving speeches punctuated this ceremony so, as the head of the Quillan relief center, Jean-Charles Fontanet, pointed out, “to indelibly honor the memory of Mario, a great man passionate about his job as a firefighter, dedicated and very generous”.
Pierre Castel then praised this exceptional man, “firefighter at heart with golden fingers, a quality he passed on to his son Pascal, creator of his dad’s stele”. Pascal, municipal employee, is indeed at the origin of many street furniture, in particular the superb trout of the roundabout at the entrance of the city.
The floor was then given to Captain Philippe Régis, new head of the southern territorial grouping, stationed in Limoux since May 1, whose role is to support all the rescue centers in the Haute Vallée and to instil the policy of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis)11 at the territorial level.
At the end of the ceremony, the agreement validating the use of Mario-Boffelli driving tracks was signed by Pierre Castel and the representative of Sdis11. Before returning to the barracks to share a glass of friendship and a convivial meal, the firefighters offered the more adventurous a lap in the vehicles of the rescue center. This day will be remembered and was an opportunity to pay a fine tribute to this Quillanais, up to the great man he was.