Romania to send firefighters to Greece to help put out the wildfires

Romanian Prime Minister Florin Cîţu announced that Romania will grant ground intervention to Greece to help extinguish the wildfires that this country is facing, with fire brigades to be sent there.

“Greek authorities have called for firefighting assistance, both for air and ground fire. Ground intervention has been accepted by Romania, this is a premiere, for the first time we are sending firefighters there to help”, said Florin Cîţu, on Thursday, in a press conference at Victoria Palace.

“With the support of the Department for Emergency Situations, an intervention module specialized in forest firefighting will be deployed to Greece in order to support Greek rescuers in areas heavily affected by fires. Thus, this module will consist of 112 rescue firefighters with 23 trucks (6 forest fire trucks, 2 tanks, 1 control center, 4 Multi-risk containers, 1 generator, 2 mobile camps, 1 intervention bus, 2 minibuses , 4 first aid and command trucks) ”, reads a Gov’t press release.

The European Commission has also announced on Wednesday that it will send planes, helicopters and firefighters to Italy, Greece, Albania and northern Macedonia to support the countries in fighting the fire. The aid is mobilized through the European Union ‘s civil protection mechanism, and the Commission bears at least 75% of the transport costs.

Greece has been hi by the worst heatwave in the past three decades for more than a week, with local firefighters battling several outbreaks on Thursday, including a large fire north of Athens. The massive fire burned all night and severely destroyed or damaged dozens of buildings, including homes. Due to the fire, thousands of people fled their homes, and firefighters struggled to bring the flames under control. Hundreds of tourists and locals were also evacuated on Wednesday from the fiery island of Evia.

Europe is experiencing extreme weather this summer, from heavy flooding in the north to severe heat waves and fires in parts of the Mediterranean. Wildfires have been broken out in such countries as Greece, Italy, Albania, but also in Turkey.