0:00:05 > 0:00:09Venice, one of the most stunning cities on Earth.
0:00:09 > 0:00:14Over 50,000 tourists arrive here each day for the carnival,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17culture and canals.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21But what they don't see is how this city works.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24This is Venice from the inside.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26Around the clock,
0:00:26 > 0:00:30emergency teams fight to keep a city built on water safe and working.
0:00:30 > 0:00:32ALARM BELL RINGS
0:00:32 > 0:00:35With unprecedented access to police, fire and medical teams,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39we come face to face with the unique daily challenges
0:00:39 > 0:00:42and life-and-death drama.
0:00:42 > 0:00:47Up to yesterday evening, she was all right and this morning, she was found not responsive.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51This is Venice 24/7, where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05Venice has almost 2,000 years of culture and history
0:01:05 > 0:01:09packed into an island three miles long.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11The high density of ancient buildings
0:01:11 > 0:01:15erected on mud and still in good working condition
0:01:15 > 0:01:19makes this one of the world's most architecturally valuable cities.
0:01:19 > 0:01:25It's Venice's uniqueness which draws millions of visitors each year.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28But as tourist numbers rise, resident numbers fall.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Less than 60,000 people now live here year-round.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35In the depths of winter,
0:01:35 > 0:01:38the city is briefly handed back to the residents.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Once the tourists go home,
0:01:43 > 0:01:48ordinary men and women get down to ensuring the city is set for the year ahead.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55In the heart of Venice, just off the Canal Grande,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58is the historic centre's only fire station.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Here, over 50 firemen operate a fleet of super-fast fire boats,
0:02:06 > 0:02:09ready to be launched for any emergency.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13At the helm is 39-year-old Alessandra Bascia.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20This is not my town. This is not my place, my birthplace, I mean.
0:02:20 > 0:02:22I'm coming from the south of Italy and in Italy,
0:02:22 > 0:02:27there is quite a difference between South and North.
0:02:27 > 0:02:35I'm a woman and here, firemen are almost all men.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38This could be a problem.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40SHE SPEAKS IN ITALIAN
0:02:44 > 0:02:47I'm the one who says, "OK, do that, don't do that."
0:02:47 > 0:02:51This could be another source of problems.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57I think that by respecting others, you get respect.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Alessandra is one of the country's first female fire chiefs.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05She's headed up operations here for 12 years
0:03:05 > 0:03:07and sees herself as one of the guys.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23She's running the day shift
0:03:23 > 0:03:28and the bad weather swiftly triggers the first emergency call-out.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31ALARM BELL RINGS
0:03:40 > 0:03:44It's not a fire but a more common occurrence at this time of year -
0:03:44 > 0:03:46a boat that's sinking.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54The team head to the busy district of Cannaregio
0:03:54 > 0:03:57on the north side of the city.
0:04:16 > 0:04:21It only takes one obstruction on Venice's busy waterways to cause chaos.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24But with the bad weather now setting in,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27the team have difficulty reaching the site.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29In Venice, there is the water
0:04:29 > 0:04:33but the level of water is not the same all the time.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35It changes from one hour to another.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42As water levels rise, any one of the 400 bridges
0:04:42 > 0:04:45can pose a serious hazard to the exposed firemen.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03With thousands of passengers using the canals each day,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06the half-submerged boat poses a real danger.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08They need to pull it out of the water.
0:05:23 > 0:05:26In bad weather, a boat sinks almost every day.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30The firemen typically pump water from the sunken boat to lighten it
0:05:30 > 0:05:33before attempting to heave it out of the water.
0:05:39 > 0:05:44Thick snow and choppy waters are hampering the operation.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06All the firemen can do is cordon off the area
0:06:06 > 0:06:10and send another team back once conditions improve.
0:06:28 > 0:06:31At this time of year, the city is as empty as it ever gets.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34It's not just the water-based emergency services
0:06:34 > 0:06:37who need to adapt to Venice's encroaching winter.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46On land, the sudden blizzards and fluctuating water levels
0:06:46 > 0:06:49can also complicate vital day-to-day jobs,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52as Denis Vianello knows all too well.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Denis often starts at 6:30am,
0:07:07 > 0:07:12cleaning up after revellers or collecting residential refuse.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Each cart can hold 900 litres of rubbish, which Denis has to drag
0:07:34 > 0:07:39to a designated rubbish stop before it's transferred to a boat.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07Once Denis gets the rubbish to the right mooring,
0:08:07 > 0:08:10it's then loaded onto the boat and crushed.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Up to 20 cartloads can be transported each shift.
0:08:34 > 0:08:35No matter what the weather,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40the city's half a ton of daily rubbish must be dealt with.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42500 years ago, those who dumped rubbish illegally
0:08:42 > 0:08:45were publicly flogged.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46Refuse is still a problem
0:08:46 > 0:08:50but the ancient city has a 21st-century solution.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53There's no landfill in Venice,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57so the rubbish is taken along the canal to a processing plant.
0:08:57 > 0:08:59Here, it gets turned into pellets of energy.
0:09:02 > 0:09:04The process is overseen by Massimo Rossi.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28Tourists may create the waste of around 100,000 extra residents,
0:09:28 > 0:09:32but that in turn creates more power for the city.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Over on the northeast side of the historic centre, in Castello,
0:09:52 > 0:09:53is the city's only hospital.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55This being Venice,
0:09:55 > 0:10:00even a high-tech medical facility has an ornate 15th-century facade.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Part of the hospital is housed in a 13th-century convent,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09dating back to when Venice was a thriving port and maritime power.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Diseases passed through as often as cargo,
0:10:12 > 0:10:16so it was here that one of Italy's first healthcare systems was born.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Today, the hospital is still at the cutting edge of care.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27It's from here that its four water ambulances
0:10:27 > 0:10:31speed across the canals nearly 16,000 times a year.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34Venice's ambulances and emergency room
0:10:34 > 0:10:38are run by South African-trained Dr Michele Alzetta.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Living in Venice, we're almost always on the verge of an emergency.
0:10:43 > 0:10:48About 29% of the population in the historical centre of Venice
0:10:48 > 0:10:50are old people.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52We have a proportionately larger number of people
0:10:52 > 0:10:55having health problems here
0:10:55 > 0:10:58than in a town with a younger population, of course.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02On average, two emergency call-outs are phoned through
0:11:02 > 0:11:04to the control centre each hour.
0:11:11 > 0:11:17The team take an emergency call about someone who collapsed at home.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38It takes the team just five minutes to get to the right mooring
0:11:38 > 0:11:42but on Venice's 30-mile stretch of busy waterways,
0:11:42 > 0:11:44finding a place to park isn't always easy.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48Unfortunately, there's another boat parked here
0:11:48 > 0:11:50so we have to cross this one to get off.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54After a few minutes searching for the patient's address,
0:11:54 > 0:11:56the team realise they can't find it.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06People actually don't know where they live,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09at least not so clearly as to tell somebody else.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Venice is a collection of separate settlements
0:12:21 > 0:12:23gradually joined together over 15 centuries.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28The six different districts result in a bewildering maze of streets and squares,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31each with their own numbering system.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37Unfortunately, the numbers are not inserted into any of the GPS services.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40GPS services don't really work here in Venice.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45Searching for the right address can add precious minutes
0:12:45 > 0:12:46to the team's response time.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Finally, the house and the patient are located.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13This lady has already had a stroke in the past.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Up to yesterday evening, she was all right and this morning,
0:13:16 > 0:13:21she was found with her gaze fixed to the left and not responsive.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25The patient is in her late 80s. She's already suffered two strokes.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27They need to take her in.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30We have to get back to the hospital now with this lady
0:13:30 > 0:13:32who has had a stroke.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36I just controlled her parameters but the blood pressure is all right
0:13:36 > 0:13:37and she's breathing OK.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42Getting back to the hospital thankfully takes just five minutes.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Dr Alzetta barely has time to drop the patient off
0:13:45 > 0:13:48before he's called out on the next emergency.
0:13:58 > 0:14:03Although the sun has come out, winter makes its presence felt.
0:14:03 > 0:14:06Water, the lifeblood of Venice, threatens to overwhelm it.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09The city can flood up to 60 times a year.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20The fire brigade has been called out to rescue another sunken boat,
0:14:20 > 0:14:23this time in the area of Castello.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Today, they've brought the divers.
0:14:28 > 0:14:29Venice sits in a tidal lagoon
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and water levels rise and fall twice a day.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38If boats are moored too tightly, one end dips as water levels fall.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42It then fills up with water from waves created by passing traffic.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53The firemen decide to use a system of ropes and pulleys
0:14:53 > 0:14:56to drag the boat from the canal.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03They try to hoist it but the water inside has made it too heavy.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20The owner of this boat is training to be a gondolier,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23so a sunken practice boat is a setback.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46For residents in Venice, daily life in the city has always been about combining new solutions
0:15:46 > 0:15:50with traditional techniques - and death is no different.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56In the late 18th century, Napoleon outlawed burials in Venice,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58insisting the bodies be taken across the canal
0:15:58 > 0:16:01to the island of San Michele.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05Special funeral barges had to be built.
0:16:05 > 0:16:08Today, negotiating the lagoon still poses unique problems
0:16:08 > 0:16:12for funeral director Nicola Soffiato.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37With 1,100 funerals to conduct each year,
0:16:37 > 0:16:42these barges have been given a 21st-century upgrade.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45Nicola has had a lift specially designed by a local company
0:16:45 > 0:16:48to handle the loading of the coffins onto the boat.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51It's a system which exists nowhere else in the world.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18Today, it's the funeral of Friar Alfonso - a Franciscan friar
0:17:18 > 0:17:20who, after taking a vow of poverty,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24spent over 40 years in the San Francesco della Vigna convent.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29His involvement in local life made him a much-loved figure.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Hundreds have turned out to pay their last respects.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36BELLS TOLL
0:17:39 > 0:17:43Friar Alfonso is one of a privileged few
0:17:43 > 0:17:45allowed to be buried in Venice.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47With land so scarce,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51there are waiting lists for the few available plots.
0:17:56 > 0:18:00After the service at the church of San Francesco della Vigna,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Friar Alfonso is transferred onto the special funeral boat
0:18:04 > 0:18:06and taken to his final resting place,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09across the canal at San Michele.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17It's eight o'clock
0:18:17 > 0:18:20and the start of a new shift for the team at the fire station.
0:18:25 > 0:18:28The boats are vigorously examined every day -
0:18:28 > 0:18:32maintaining the propellers and pumps is the highest priority.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36The fire chief, Alessandra,
0:18:36 > 0:18:40is one of the few people working here from outside the lagoon.
0:18:40 > 0:18:41Most of the men are local
0:18:41 > 0:18:45and today they are losing their longest-serving member.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Alessandra's deputy, shift boss
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and Venetian Lele Tagliapietra
0:18:51 > 0:18:55is taking the register of the 16 men on duty.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00It's the last roll-call of his career.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03At the age of 55, the married father of two
0:19:03 > 0:19:05is about to take early retirement.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16Losing someone like Lele, it's a problem for us
0:19:16 > 0:19:21because he's full of experience as a Venetian and as a firefighter.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Lele knows better than anyone
0:19:24 > 0:19:27the risks for every fireman working in Venice.
0:19:42 > 0:19:43ALARM RINGS
0:19:43 > 0:19:47But on this shift, there's a greater danger to worry about.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51The most dreaded call of all has come in - fire.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57SIRENS BLARE
0:20:00 > 0:20:03A fire has been reported in a residential apartment.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07As the city is mainly built on wooden structures with wooden floors
0:20:07 > 0:20:09and roofs, if fire takes hold,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12it will rapidly spread along the entire block.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30The fire team needs water, quickly,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32but only some parts of Venice
0:20:32 > 0:20:36have fire hydrants - and this isn't one of them.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Hydrants were only installed in the city
0:20:38 > 0:20:41following the devastating fire of 1996,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44which claimed the landmark Fenice theatre.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50This iconic 18th-century building
0:20:50 > 0:20:55had already been ravaged by fire twice.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59This time, the theatre was utterly devastated by the blaze,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01which took two days to extinguish.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05Losing the home of some of the world's most famous operas
0:21:05 > 0:21:08struck a devastating blow to the cultural heart of Venice.
0:21:40 > 0:21:44At the hospital, the ambulance has been called out again,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48but this time the team has much further to travel.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53Now we're going to Burano, which is a small island on the Venetian lagoon.
0:21:54 > 0:21:59We have a patient with chest pain. We have no other information.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03For Dr Alzetta and his team, it's a race against time.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The Venice hospital has to serve the whole lagoon,
0:22:20 > 0:22:25including 13 outlying islands - an area twice the size of Birmingham.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28Burano is 20 minutes away at top speed.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32The team can't afford to waste more time
0:22:32 > 0:22:35looking for the right address once they arrive.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38At Burano, the patient's relatives are on the bank,
0:22:38 > 0:22:42waiting to rush the doctor to her.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44The patient is an elderly lady
0:22:44 > 0:22:47and her condition has seriously deteriorated.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51The paramedics begin resuscitation.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Despite the team's best efforts, this call-out has not ended happily.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09So when we got there, she was already in cardiac arrest
0:23:09 > 0:23:15for over ten minutes, so we did everything that was indicated,
0:23:15 > 0:23:20but the chances were extremely slight and she just didn't make it.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35Back at the burning building, the firemen have managed to stop
0:23:35 > 0:23:38the fire from spreading, but the first-floor apartment
0:23:38 > 0:23:41is badly damaged and the owners won't be able to return.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54The fire may have been extinguished, but the danger isn't over.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13Once the smoke has dispersed, the fire team can begin
0:24:13 > 0:24:17their critical checks using a thermal camera.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22In stone houses,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26the camera is used to detect fire in an adjacent room, but in Venice,
0:24:26 > 0:24:30fire is more deceitful, as it can be lurking in the wooden structure.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34Walls and ceilings must be checked inch by inch.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53Anything less than 100 degrees means that the building is safe.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The team confirms there are no burning embers in the walls.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02They clear the fire scene
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and have just one more distress call to deal with.
0:25:14 > 0:25:15OK, but which way?
0:25:21 > 0:25:23Out there.
0:25:25 > 0:25:26- Thank you.- You're welcome!
0:25:28 > 0:25:32After a six-hour operation, the team head back to the station,
0:25:32 > 0:25:38just in time to celebrate shift boss Lele Tagliapietra's last day on the job.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46The successful actions of his team today are a fitting end
0:25:46 > 0:25:50for a Venetian who has devoted his life to keeping the city safe.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32- Lele!- BLEEP!
0:26:32 > 0:26:33THEY CHEER
0:26:33 > 0:26:35APPLAUSE
0:26:39 > 0:26:40We're still here.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52In the next episode,
0:26:52 > 0:26:56over 150,000 tourists descend for one of world's oldest
0:26:56 > 0:27:00and most spectacular parties - carnival.
0:27:00 > 0:27:02For those putting on the celebrations,
0:27:02 > 0:27:04stakes couldn't be higher.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17The paramedics are called out to rescue carnival tourists.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20When we have carnival, we have a huge amount of drunk people.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23And the police have to deal with a real death in Venice.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd