Polish firefighters will be deployed to Greece to help combat wildfires raging across the country following the recent heatwave that has enveloped Europe, Interior Minister Mariusz Kamiński confirmed on Wednesday.
“Greece has again been hit by enormous fires. We are coming to the rescue. In coordination with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, I have asked the State Fire Service chief, Andrzej Bartkowiak, to prepare our firefighters for a mission so that they can help put out fires in southern Europe, just as we did two years ago,” read a statement from Kamiński.
Bartkowiak revealed that Greece had asked Poland for assistance in fighting forest fires and that fire service units from Poznań and Kraków were to join the firefighting effort in the southern European country. He told reporters that it will take two days for the firefighter team to reach Greece by road and that they expect to be in Greece for around two weeks.
Last week, Greece was hit with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius, and similar weather was predicted for this week. The heat has dried the mountain bushes and pine forests, facilitating the quick spread of the fire.
Polish firefighters have a proud record of helping in emergency situations throughout the world and were most recently deployed in Turkey following the earthquakes there. Two years ago, they were engaged in combating similar wildfires that raged in Greece.
