Team of Slovak Firefighters Returns from France after Almost Three Weeks

Bratislava, 19 August (TASR) - After almost three weeks, the module specialising in ground-based firefighting in natural environments using GFFF-V vehicles has returned to Slovakia from its mission in France, the Fire and Rescue Corps (HaZZ) posted on social media on Wednesday, adding that the Slovak team of firefighters operated in France between 30 July and 18 August. "As part of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism, the unit was pre-deployed to France from 30 July to 18 August, a period when the risk of wildfires is exceptionally high. The Slovak team operated in the Gironde department near Bordeaux," reported HaZZ. The team of 20 Slovak firefighters had 19 pieces of equipment at their disposal. During the mission, the Slovak firefighters operated in challenging sandy terrain, where they extinguished active fires and searched for hidden spots that could threaten areas of the region not yet affected by the fire. While the Slovak unit was deployed, south-western France was hit by one of the largest wildfires of the season. The fire affected an area of approximately 42,000 hectares. am