Romania's specialist national module for extinguishing forest fires dispatched to France has become operational and can respond, if need be, in the Velaux region of France, near the city of Marseille.
According to Romania's Emergency Management General Inspectorate (IGSU), the module is composed of 40 firefighters and three forest fire fighting vehicles, a minibus and a coach, Agerpres reports.
"Yesterday, August 2, Romania's specialist national module for extinguishing forest fires dispatched to France became operational. The base of operations of our colleagues was established at the National Higher School of Firefighting Officers - ENSOSP, in the city of Aix -en-Provence. Taking into account the weather forecast, in order to reduce the response time in the event of forest fires, the French authorities ordered the deployment of the specialist module from Romania and the other forces and means that came to support from the other regions of the host country, in the Velaux region, at the Departmental Training Center for Firefighters. The deployment of our colleagues from the Operations Base is carried out daily, usually in the second part of the day, when the weather is favourable for the production of forest fires. Since yesterday, the Romanian firefighters have been in contact with their French counterparts for the establishment of efficient co-operation of the Romanian module with the means and forces of France. Thus, the crews within the Romanian module were equipped with portable radio stations, which allow communication both inside the module and with the other departments involved in the management of emergencies generated by forest fires," reports IGSU.
According to the forecast for Thursday, August 3, the risk of forest fires remains high.
The involvement of the Romanian module was requested by French officers delegated to assist and ensure the smooth running of the entire mission carried out by the Romanian rescuers.
Between July 30 and September 2, 2023, the Emergency Management Department (DSU) with Romania's Interior Ministry, through the Emergency Management General Inspectorate dispatched a specialist national module for extinguishing forest fires in a pre-positioning programme of the Directorate General European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations - DG ECHO, in order to strengthen France's resilience in managing this type of risk.
A replacement of staff will take place on August 16, 2023.