Nicosia: Cyprus firefighters wrapped up on Saturday their mission aiming to assist in combating the major wildfires in France. National Civil Protection Coordinator, Chief Fire Officer Nikos Logginos, told CNA that the support crew returns to Cyprus on Saturday, while the two firefighting aircraft and their pilots are expected to arrive on Sunday after making intermediate stops for refuelling.
According to Cyprus News Agency, the Chief Fire Officer said that during their deployment in France, the Cypriot aircraft carried out a large number of firefighting operations, conducting repeated water drops and contributing significantly both to tackling the active fire front and suppressing flare-ups. Logginos said the Cypriot firemen have now completed their mission as the situation in the area where the Cypriot aircraft had been operating was now stable and the wildfire has been under control.
The two aircraft departed this morning from the Perpignan area in southwestern France, where they had been based throughout the operation, and began their return journey to Cyprus. As Logginos explained, due to the long distance involved, the aircraft return via a number of intermediate stops for refuelling before completing the final leg of their journey to Cyprus.
According to him, the aircraft will make stops in Sardinia, Lamezia in Italy and Souda in Crete before departing for Paphos on Sunday morning. Meanwhile, the mission's support crew is returning to Cyprus on Saturday evening, on a private flight.
It is recalled that Cyprus responded to a request from France through the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism rescEU by deploying two firefighting aircraft to reinforce firefighting operations. As Logginos had previously noted, the deployment of the two aircraft was made possible because the situation in Cyprus allowed them to be assigned temporarily to support firefighting efforts in France.
Source: Cyprus News Agency