A few years ago, while starting the extraction of Basalt blocks from our quarry in Camporotondo /Belpasso, under the lava blanket and thus under the rock, we had a pleasant surprise: we discovered the Etna Basalt called ‘Fuoco Rosso (Red Fire).
As you may know, Vulcano’s Etna lava is the hardest and most difficult-to-extract stone, and requires a further processing and transformation with high accuracy. When we found however, the first Etna Red Fire Basalt blocks, we immediately understood that we dealt with a really hard and compact stone that deteriorates very slowly, and whose aesthetic characteristics and typical reddish color would render it ideal for our commercial target. We have thus, carried out, a recovery plan in the quarry area and in the underlying part of the main flow; the resultant remodeling of the land, allowed us to extract a unique material, which we propose for its aesthetic merits and its high quality physio-mechanical characteristics. It is also important to note that our Red Fire is very similar to the typical material of Etna, named in antiquity as ‘the Eye of Pernice’; the similarity lies to the typical rocky conformation, holey like a travertine. It differentiates however, for its particular reddish color, and for the presence of white crystals on the surface; other types of basalt display crystals of greenish/ black color.
The aforementioned characteristics render this product unique for its kind, even if the characteristic discontinuity of the rocky structure, allows the production of restrained dimension formats; the use of Red Fire is instead particularly efficient aesthetically, employing it in ‘opus incertum’ (random length), for coating and paving, or in its natural form (pebbles), treated for cosmetic applications. We, Fratelli Lizzio srl, address to designers, inviting them to use this type of basalt in great trust, and we are sure to supply you with an exclusive material.