The Bulgarian team of 36 firefighters returned from mission in Greece

The Bulgarian firefighters, who were deployed to Greece to help their colleagues to battle the wild fires, returned today, September 11.

After ten days in the field, 36 firefighters from the forest firefighting module completed their mission. They were sent to Greece with five fire engines, two vans and an operational vehicle. This was the second assistance team sent under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, The first team came back to Bulgaria on 1 September.

The firefighters were welcomed by the Director of the General Directorate for Fire Safety and Civil Protection, Chief Commissioner Alexander Dzhartov, who thanked them for their good work. They have returned safe and sound from the mission.

"We are very proud of them because especially when they go on site, they work side by side with the hosts. That's generally a sign of trust. They have trusted them, they have seen professionalism in them. When the hosts don't have confidence, they usually send the teams elsewhere rather than putting out fires with them. For us this is a sign of appreciation," said Chief Commissioner Dzhartov.

"The challenge was the high temperatures in the first days. The drought that Greece faced was felt everywhere. Literally, fire's behaviour could change radically in a matter of seconds. While contained in one small part, it spread over a very large area in minutes," the head of the mission, Rosen Borisov, told journalists.

He explained that because of the winds, which were quite strong at times, the teams were constantly prepared for evacuation. Another challenge was the presence of aerial firefighting equipment, which the firefighters were careful not to get within the range of.

"When the fire was not under control, there were moments when we had to be exceptionally alert. These were the instructions - everyone, at any moment, if they notice something - to warn. All the time people were in visual contact with each other", Rosen Borisov further said.

Images by BTA