After a 52-hour drive, Ukrainian firefighters on Monday joined operations to fully extinguish the wildfire that devastated the Gironde region in southwestern France -- an unprecedented mobilisation in the country.
Seventy firefighters arrived on Sunday in a convoy of 15 vehicles, including 10 fire engines, after travelling through Ukraine, Poland, Germany and France to help their French counterparts west of the city of Bordeaux.
Foreign contingents have mobilised to assist France in fighting the blaze, which has burned 42,000 hectares -- an area four times the size of Paris -- since it broke out on July 22nd.
"We always try to help those who need our assistance, even though things are very difficult for us right now -- as you are well aware, we are at war," said Khrystyna Pertsovych, spokeswoman for the Ukrainian emergency response team.
"Every day, our rescue workers are working under fire, but we still find a way to help those who help us.
