HaZZ: Slovak Firefighters Continue to Help Extinguish Wildfires in France

Bratislava, 27 July (TASR) - The crew of a Black Hawk helicopter from Slovakia is still helping extinguish the extensive wildfires in south-western France. Following a briefing on Sunday morning (26 July), the helicopter moved to a deployment area in the vicinity of the towns of Ares and Marcheprime. It later continued its fire-fighting operations south-west of Bordeaux, the Fire and Rescue Corps (HaZZ) has reported on social media. During an aerial firefighting operation on Sunday, the Slovak crew carried out 17 water drops, thereby supporting ground units in their efforts to extinguish the fire. "After completing the operation, the helicopter returned to base in Jonzac. The Slovak firefighters are thus continuing to assist their French peers in protecting the inhabitants, property and valuable natural sites affected by wildfires," stated HaZZ. The services of the aviation equipment operator are being provided under the rescEU-AFFF-H-SK project, which is co-financed by the European Union through the rescEU Transition 2026 grant. The Slovak firefighters arrived in France on Friday (24 July) to help fight the massive wildfires that broke out in the country last week. More than 250,000 people have already been evacuated as a result of the fires. ko/df