On the move in Aveyron this Wednesday, the Minister of the Interior wanted to support the firefighters, on the front line in the face of the fires.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin on Wednesday called on communities and businesses to release the volunteer firefighters they employ from their duties, to strengthen the system for fighting exceptional summer fires. “I launch a solemn appeal to employers to release their employees who are volunteer firefighters, so that they can join their fellow firefighters, everywhere on the national territory.“, declared the minister during a trip to Aveyron.
«This is an extremely important civic message“, he added during a press briefing in the village of Mostuéjouls, evacuated in the night from Monday to Tuesday due to the proximity of a fire which ravaged 700 hectares in Lozère and Aveyron, and mobilized 600 firefighters. On Wednesday evening, the president of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Renaud Muselier, announced that he would respond “immediatelyat the minister’s call. “As of (Thursday), the agents of the services and high schools who are volunteer firefighters, will be made available to their barracks“, he tweeted.
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Firefighters put to the test all summer
Forty agents must thus be available for firefighters in this region of south-eastern France often affected by fires, according to the press service of the Region. The exceptional fires that have broken out in France since the beginning of the summer have put a strain on the firefighters, professionals and volunteers, who have been mobilized sometimes until exhaustion. While aerial firefighting means are insufficient, France has requested help from European countries.
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«The Swedes are lending us planes from (Thursday), the Italians no doubt in the next few hours (…) This European mechanism will in any case allow us in the next few hours to be able to concentrate other air resources“, he announced. Firefighters are mobilized on many fronts, particularly in Gironde, but also in smaller fires in Maine-et-Loire, Aveyron, Drôme, Isère or Pyrénées-Orientales, each time with reinforcements from other departments.
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