There are men who are born to become heroes … and when they become heroes, then they manage not to get a big head and remain the simple and genuine people they have always been. We call them “hidden angels”, we call them “mysterious Clark Kents” … in Catania, we call them like him: Saro “Ruspa”. Saro, that is Rosario, was not really called “ruspa” (caterpillar machine). That word indicated the vehicle of his work that he knew how to maneuver with skill and attention. But it was thanks to that vehicle that he would become a hero for everyone.

How Rosario Di Carlo became “the super hero Saro Ruspa”

Rosario Di Carlo was a worker from Biancavilla, with a long work experience even as an emigrant: he had spent years in Germany, acquiring that experience of the vehicle that had allowed him, in the 1980s, to return to Sicily. His experience had been put to the service of the newly formed Mount Etna Regional Park, and his “bulldozer”, the large motor shovel he operated, was used to level the ground, move rocks, and clear lands. Sometimes it also happened that he had to create rock barriers so to slow down lava flows, when – rarely – they threatened human works. And Saro had done that too.

In 1992, however, he was called upon to perform a unique and extremely dangerous task. The lateral eruption, which had emerged at low altitude and had been pouring rivers of lava into the desert Valle del Bove for months, seemed to never end. And the lava had gone beyond the confines of the rocky desert, heading towards the valley. Towards the towns. They needed a master of the motor shovel. They needed Saro Di Carlo. And he said “Okay”. Even if this meant risking his life … and not just because of the volcano.

The impossible mission of Saro Ruspa

That incredible mission of 1992 was told in an article by the writer Pino Aprile, published many years later (2015) on the website “Terroni” and reported by the blog IL VULCANICO.

“… The eruption had been going on for a year and a half; the lava had descended from an altitude of 2,150 meters to just 1,100 and was about to go over the edge that separated it from the town of Zafferana Etna, just 500 meters away by now. The town seemed doomed” writes Aprile and adds “On May 13, Saro entered the Valley del Bove: no one had ever done it. Centuries and centuries of lava flows offer a lunar landscape, with rocks as sharp as razors, as hard as steel. The plan was: to create a path until reaching just below the lava flow; and there try to plug the tunnel, while the Civil Protection Corp’s helicopters bombed it, further upstream. (…)At every meter, Saro risked overturning his vehicle, while the helicopters circled above him: two days, to do 8 kilometers. The engine burned out; they sent him another one from Turin, which was lowered to him by a helicopter. A boulder hit the bulldozer and broke a track; but Saro managed to finish his job: the mouth of the tunnel was blocked, while the explosives split it higher up; the lava flowed in another, harmless direction. Saro had saved Zafferana, thousands of inhabitants, hotels, restaurants, crops. The volcano had lost”.

For that heroic work, Saro Ruspa received the title of Cavaliere (the highest existing) from the President of the Republic, for the courage he demonstrated and the results he achieved. Mister Di Carlo died in 2010 at the age of 71.

A Plaque, a Square and a Path

Today, there are books, photographs, conferences and events to remember this “super hero” of Etna. But above all, there is a commemorative plaque at the entrance to the Pietracannone trail and an itinerary. The plaque reads: «Rosario Di Carlo / known to all as “Saro Ruspa”, / leaves an indelible mark on the history of Etna, / his enterprise was decisive in the success / of “Operation Cap”. / In everlasting memory, His family placed».

And the same trail, once called Pietracannone, today bears the name of Sentiero Saro Ruspa and is a hiking itinerary that leads to the heart of the deserted Valle del Bove.

The city of Biancavilla has dedicated to its heroic fellow citizen a clearing that opens along Via della Montagna, thus becoming Piazzale Rosario Di Carlo. (THE PHOTOS ARE BY: Canva.com AI Pictures and Biancavillaoggi.it )