Romanian firefighters’ mission in France extended by two weeks

Following the request made by French authorities through the activation of the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism, the National Committee for Emergency Situations approved on Monday a two-week extension of Romania’s participation in the mission to support the extinguishing of wildfires and forest fires in France.

Thus, the mission will continue with the replacement of the contingent currently in France with a new contingent of firefighters, who will take over operational responsibilities in the areas affected by the fires.

Romanian firefighters will continue to work alongside international teams to limit the effects of wildfires and protect communities in at-risk areas.

The General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations announced on Monday that the firefighters sent to France had been redeployed to the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region.

The Romanian firefighters have been in France since early July.

On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Romania for its support. The brief but impactful message was written in Romanian: “Thank you, Romania!” It was accompanied by a photo showing firefighters working to extinguish the flames of a wildfire.

The situation regarding the recent forest fires in France is not improving. French firefighters warn that it could take “weeks or months” to completely extinguish the fires in the Gironde region.

In France, authorities have evacuated at least 220,000 people from the southwestern part of the country after the fires that broke out midweek spread toward the Cap Ferret peninsula and the suburbs of Bordeaux.