20 Maltese Firefighters Travel To Greece To Battle Wildfires
In a historic first, twenty Maltese firefighters were deployed to help Greece battle its unprecedented wildfires.
Since the beginning of 2023, Greece has faced more than 5,200 fires, with more than 1250 hectares of countryside destroyed. The firefighters were deployed for a process known as pre-positioning, where teams are on the scene preemptively to be able to fight fires immediately.
Security Minister Byron Camilleri and the Director General of Protection Civilian Peter Paul Coleiro were both present at the airport to send off the men earlier today.
Coleiro explained that Malta had received a request for direct help from the Greek Civil Protection Unit due to the fact that Maltese firefighters are from the same region, they can work in the heat of the Mediterranean’s summer and are used to putting out fires in the countryside that are very similar to ones battled in Greece.
“We could not remain passive to this call, to this request. We got immediate support from the Ministry, and thus a team of twenty firefighters will go up for two weeks to work side by side with their Greek colleagues,” he said.
Meanwhile, Minister Camilleri said that this was possible because of increased training and investment in the CPD force.
These are expected to stay there until the end of July while 230 officers will continue to work normally in Malta.
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