A delegation of twenty Polynesian firefighters is leaving Tahiti to join the teams fighting the fire in Gironde. After arriving in Paris, the volunteers will be transported to the Bordeaux region to participate in monitoring and treating the remaining active areas.
Each firefighter carries over 23 kilos of equipment adapted for urban and forest fires. Some members of the delegation are also trained to drive specialized trucks, including vehicles used for interventions in natural environments and on difficult terrain.
A welcome boost for exhausted teams
After more than a week of fighting the fire, 42,000 hectares have been devastated, and several hotspots remain under surveillance. While 188,000 of the 220,000 evacuees have already been able to return home, the firefighters who have been on the scene since the beginning of the disaster need to be relieved. The arrival of the Polynesian volunteers will therefore bolster the workforce and allow for a better distribution of the workload.
The municipality of Papeete supports this mission while ensuring sufficient personnel remain in Tahiti to respond to any potential local emergency. This exceptional deployment illustrates the solidarity between French territories and will also allow Polynesian firefighters to gain valuable experience in dealing with a fire of a scale rarely seen in mainland France.
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