Austria helps France in the fight against flaming inferno
disaster relief
The Ministry of the Interior coordinates the Austrian help of the regional fire brigade associations in fighting the forest fires in France.
“The 350,000 members of the fire brigade do an invaluable job for safety, but also for social cohesion in our country. The deployment in the French forest fire areas shows once again how much the expertise of the Austrian fire brigade is valued internationally,” said Interior Minister Gerhard Karl. The Lower Austrian deputy governor Stephan Pernkopf, who knows the dramatic situation in several French departments, agreed: “The flame disaster in the forests near Bordeaux brings back memories of Austria’s largest forest fire in Hirschwang an der Rax in the autumn of the previous year: the fear and Hoping for the right weather and a safe extinguishing operation by the firefighters. At that time, 115 hectares of forest were affected in our country, in France it is more than 6,000 hectares – that’s an inferno.”
offer of help
The French authorities have already evacuated more than 6,000 people from the endangered regions. Due to the current situation and the forecast of persistently high temperatures, the French civil protection authorities activated the Union Mechanism (UCPM) on August 9, 2022 and sent a request for help to the participating states. The Austrian Ministry of the Interior, as the agency responsible for international disaster relief, responded quickly to the request for help and contacted the provincial fire brigade associations that could be considered in Austria for such cases. The Lower Austrian fire brigade association immediately made an offer of help to France, which was gratefully accepted.
focus region
On the evening of August 11, 2022, the first part of the unit of the Lower Austrian State Fire Brigade Association was relocated to the Bordeaux area, the second part will follow on August 12. Part of the unit and equipment was transferred by land, the greater part of the crew by air. The intended duration of the Austrian helpers is several days. “Our fire brigade comrades support our French neighbors on site. This summer of drought has the whole of Europe in its grip. We fire brigades have to prepare ourselves better and better for the consequences of this drought and climate change. There is a feeling of security in knowing that our ready to help,” emphasized Pernkopf.
Article No: 19875 from Thursday, August 11, 2022, 18:50
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