in Hostens
The firemen of the Gironde had been accustomed for a month to welcome reinforcements from Hérault, Bouches-du-Rhône, Lyons, or the Marne. In Hostens, where the fire flared up Tuesday afternoon, they are now sharing the rear base of the command post with 77 Romanian firefighters and 64 German Feuerwehr. Activated at the request of the government, the European Civil Protection Mechanism allows France to benefit from the help of seven European countries: 360 firefighters and about a hundred vehicles to reinforce the thousand firefighters already mobilized in the Gironde, as well as six Canadairs for all countries. there are fires in the area.
“We have three major projects (Landiras, Hostens and La Teste-de-Buch, editor’s note)every day there is a fire and a small material breakage, recalls Mark Vermeulen, Superintendent General and Gironde Fire Chief. Machines and men are always advantageous.”
The German teams arrived on Thursday evening with 14 vehicles and were involved on the ground with the Romanian firefighters the next day. They will be supported by Polish and Austrian reinforcements over the weekend. “We are here to help our French partners, we offer our condolences to the population facing the fire.” says the head of the Romanian detachment, colonel Christian Buhaianu. The firefighter has already faced similar fires in Romania“but not that big” . “We are ready to intervene and we are ready to do it.” he announced a few minutes before his first mission.
“This is Europe.”
Behind the command post, in Hostens, a team of German firemen is also preparing to catch fire. Troops arrive from Bonn region. “Last year I intervened in Greece, trusts one of them when colleagues have a problem, other countries come to help. That’s what Europe is.” Teams must be coordinated on the field. Foreign firefighters are informed by the French command. “The only problem is to know the capabilities of their cars. We can’t get any trucks involved in the turf.”explains Marc Vermeulen. “There is no miracle technology” he continues. From a technical point of view, European cars are similar to cars used in France. The same with six planes from Greece, Italy and Sweden.
As of Friday, two Greek water bombers stationed at the Bordeaux-Meriniac airport intervened in the fire of “Landiras 2”. They are located next to two Italian aircraft. “The planes are equivalent, the procedures are harmonized, the flight capabilities are identical, which makes it very easy to organize.”, – explains Clare Kowalewski, a firefighter at the European Crisis Center. During the flight, French planes remain the leaders of patrolling. during launching operations, it is necessary to protect the troops on the ground and obtain their permission before opening the water tank. “For linguistic reasons, the order of the French leader is easier to receive”he explains.
Communication remains a major challenge. Captain Benoit Isner, dressed in a blue vest embroidered with the stars of the European flag, is the link between the groups. “My role is to grease the wheels and integrate foreign firefighters into the system as best as possible.” assures the communication officer.
German, Polish, Austrian and Romanian firefighters are scheduled to leave between August 18 and 19. The fire did not progress Thursday into Friday night, but “Very serious risk of fire.”, the fires in the basement continue, which can spread hundreds of meters away. Firefighters battled the blaze on Friday during a scorching day marked by a drop in humidity. As of 5:00 p.m., 7,800 hectares have burned in the Saint-Magnes region, and 10,000 evacuees have not yet been able to return to their homes.
Source: Le Figaro
