Fireman who saved the Holy Shroud from the 1997 fire tells the story

In his memory, that night 25 years ago is still fresh.

It was the night between April 11 and 12, 1997, and a fire in the cathedral of Turin threatened to destroy the Holy Shroud. The photo of the fireman who saved the Holy Shroud, with his face transfigured by fear and fatigue, went around the world. That man was Mario Trematore, now retired. 

In his memory, that night 25 years ago is still fresh. “I was at home with my wife, not on duty (…) and she was the one who saw the fire through the window. I called the fire station and they told me that a fire had broken out between the Royal Palace and the cathedral. I wore an old hiking jacket, which had the firemen’s coat of arms on the arm, and I immediately ran to help my colleagues,” Mario told Corriere di Torino (April 8).