The European Commission on Tuesday unveiled its largest-ever coordinated wildfire response deployment, positioning hundreds of firefighters and dozens of aircraft across southern Europe ahead of the summer fire season.
A total of 777 firefighters from 14 countries will be strategically deployed in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, all identified as high-risk zones for wildfires, Greek state broadcaster ERT reported.
They will be backed by 22 firefighting aircraft and five helicopters drawn from the EU’s shared emergency fleet.
The Emergency Response Coordination Centre will oversee 24-hour monitoring and coordination of operations, using meteorological data and risk assessments to guide deployments.
Satellite mapping and forecasting will be provided through the Copernicus Earth observation system, alongside the European Forest Fire Information System.
