Ukrainian rescue workers have begun fighting forest fires in France
Ukrainian State Emergency Service specialists have joined the effort to combat large-scale wildfires in France and have already received their first assignments. The rescue workers are collaborating with their French counterparts to protect critical infrastructure and young forest stands from the fire.
“The Ukrainian combined detachment of the State Emergency Service, which is participating in the fight against large-scale forest fires in France, continues to carry out its assigned tasks,” the post states.
According to the State Emergency Service, a meeting was held the day before with General Frédéric Tourneay, who is responsible for civil protection issues in the European Union. He thanked the Ukrainian rescue workers for their readiness to assist France and highly praised their professionalism.
Following the meeting at the firefighting command post, the Ukrainian unit received its first operational assignments. Specific areas of operation were designated for the rescuers, including preventing the fire from spreading to the equestrian center and protecting young forest plantations. Currently, Ukrainian rescue workers continue to carry out their assigned tasks in coordination with their French colleagues. Efforts to extinguish the forest fire are ongoing, according to the State Emergency Service.
The rescuers also shared a story about their encounter with local residents.
“Our firefighters have been assisting their French colleagues in fighting large-scale forest fires for several days now. As they traveled to the site of their operations, local residents greeted the State Emergency Service convoy with applause, heartfelt handshakes, and the words ‘Thank you!’ in Ukrainian,” the State Emergency Service reported. - These touching images are a vivid testament to the mutual support, solidarity, and respect between our peoples. Even in the hardest times, humanity knows no borders. We thank France for its warm words of support, and our rescuers for their courage, which the world admires!"
In France, 1,500 people gathered for an illegal rave despite the wildfires.
As a reminder, French passengers who purchased train tickets to the region around Bordeaux will be able to exchange or refund them free of charge. This decision was made due to the large-scale wildfires that have complicated the situation in the area.
Ukraine has sent a combined detachment of State Emergency Service (SES) rescuers to France to assist in fighting the massive wildfires that have engulfed certain regions of the country. Ukrainian specialists will assist French emergency services in extinguishing the fires and conducting rescue operations.
