First contingent of 40 Romanian firefighters stationed in Greece to help battle forest fires

A first contingent of 40 Romanian firefighters will be in Greece starting on August 1, 2026, to support local teams battling fires that have broken out amid high summer temperatures.

The firefighters left on Thursday, July 30, for a locality in the Attica region, located approximately 25 kilometres northeast of Athens. The move is part of the pre-positioning programme organized by the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). 

“For the fulfilment of the mission, the national module has two forest fire extinguishing vehicles with a capacity of 3,000 litres, one 5,000-litre vehicle, one high-capacity 10,000-litre vehicle, one 30,000-litre tanker, one first intervention and command vehicle equipped with an unmanned aircraft system, one shortwave radio communications vehicle, one minibus, one container truck and one utility terrain vehicle equipped with fire extinguishing installations,” Romania’s General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations said in a statement posted to Facebook.

To ensure the continuity of the mission, the rotation of personnel is scheduled for August 16 and 31, 2026, when two other contingents, each consisting of 40 firefighters, will take over the duties of the personnel deployed near Athens.

According to the same source, the pre-positioning programme has as its main objectives reducing response time in the event of forest fires, increasing the level of preparedness of the intervention modules of the member states and strengthening interoperability among the participating forces. Throughout the mission, the Romanian module specialized in forest fire extinguishing will carry out monitoring and intervention activities to contain and extinguish fires that break out on the territory of Greece, in the areas established by the Greek authorities.

The assistance programme, financed by the European Union, was designed as a support measure for communities in Europe severely affected by the devastating fires of previous years. It is part of the EU’s new policy for preventing and limiting forest fires in southern Europe and brings together this year, on the territory of the Hellenic Republic, operational crews from Romania, the Czech Republic, France and Moldova.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: IGSU - Inspectoratul General pentru Situatii de Urgenta, Romania on Facebook) ...