EU dispatches firefighting aircraft to Greece
The European Union (EU) has declared that a wildfire in northeastern Greece is the largest recorded in its territory since records began in 2000
The wildfire – which has burned approximately 81,000 hectares across parts of the Alexandroupolis and Evros regions over the past 11 days – has claimed 20 lives so far.
To help tackle the blaze, the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre has dispatched 12 firefighting aircraft from its rescEU reserve fleet. This includes 11 planes from Croatia, Cyprus, France, Germany, Spain, and Sweden, and one Black Hawk helicopter from Czechia.
Additionally, six EU countries have provided six ground-based firefighting teams via the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism, and the EU’s Copernicus satellite mapping service has issued 20 maps of fire-affected areas.
The Greek government activated the Civil Protection Mechanism on 20 August – the second time this summer that the country has been forced to do so in response to wildfires.
Greece is currently looking to rapidly expand its aerial firefighting fleet, with proposals to purchase 36 new aircraft in the next six years.