The second rotation of Romania's specialised forest-fire module arrived Thursday at the Perpignan Department headquarters in southern France, with the 40 firefighters replacing their colleagues pre-positioned over the past two weeks.

The first 40-strong contingent is returning home after handing over to the incoming team the three forest-fire engines (3,000 litres), a 30,000-litre tanker, a high-capacity engine (10,000 litres), a first-response and command vehicle, a short-wave radio unit, a minibus and a logistics support container, ensuring continuity of operations should new incidents require intervention, the Emergency Management Inspectorate General (IGSU) said on Friday.

Over the past two weeks, the Romanian module deployed to France has taken part in missions to put out vegetation fires, protect homes threatened by flames and help limit damage.

Beyond field operations, the Romanian firefighters worked closely with their French peers, joining training sessions and experience-sharing activities aimed at improving rapid and effective response in critical situations. Their professionalism and dedication strengthened ties of solidarity and mutual support with French authorities, IGSU noted.

On Thursday, the team leader and liaison officer of the Romanian module attended an event at the Prefecture of Pyrénées-Orientales, at the invitation of the prefect, alongside representatives of services involved in large-scale interventions. The event highlighted cooperation between French authorities and international forces, as well as joint efforts to limit the impact of vegetation and forest fires, IGSU said.

French fire-service representatives expressed gratitude for the Romanian firefighters' involvement in protecting communities, homes and infrastructure at risk, and for their support during the response to a historically large vegetation fire, fought under difficult weather conditions and affecting roughly 5,000 hectares.

The Romanian module's intervention at a campsite fire in the Canet-en-Roussillon area was also singled out, where Romanian and French crews operated together in a particularly complex operational context.

Between July 1 and 31, the Emergency Management Department, through IGSU, is participating with a national forest-fire module in the pre-positioning programme organised by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Directorate (DG ECHO). The initiative aims to strengthen France's response capacity in managing vegetation and forest fires.

The programme seeks to reduce the response time in such events, raise preparedness levels among intervention modules from participating member states and improve interoperability. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Alexandru Florea; EN - writing by: Simona Klodnischi)