Curcio joined the Civil Protection in 2007, selected by Guido Bertolaso to direct the secretariat. In the following year he headed the "Emergency Management Section", including the 2009 Messina floods and mudslides and those in Liguria and Tuscany, the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake and the 2012 Emilia earthquakes as well as the removal of the Costa Concordia, after its shipwreck near Isola del Giglio.