More than 200 firefighters and technical equipment provided by European Union countries will be soon deployed to Greece to allow for a swift response to large wildfires, AP News reports.
“It is clear that we are facing a global weather change, and that requires us Europeans to respond jointly,” Janez Lenarcic, the EU commissioner for crisis management, said about the deployment.
Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Romania and Norway will take part in the initiative coordinated by the EU bloc’s Civil Protection Mechanism.
This comes as six specialist fire fighting helicopters from McDermott Aviation on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, as well as pilots and water bombers from Kennedy Air in rural New South Wales, have already arrived in Greece for their third fire season.
READ MORE: Australian helicopters arrive in Greece to help for third fire season.
Greece experienced a devastating fire season in 2021, burning roughly 309,000 acres of bushland and devastating people’s homes.
About 24 European and Middle Eastern countries responded at the time, sending planes, helicopters, vehicles and hundreds of firefighters.
Source: AP News.