It doesn’t take long for a spark to ignite and turn into towering red flames devouring a forest. But it can take much longer for rescue teams to receive a call for help and reach the scene – especially in remote, mountainous terrain. 

Prepositioned firefighters in high risk areas 

In a wildfire emergency, speed is critical and every second counts. That’s one of the reasons why the European Union has been strategically prepositioning firefighters in high-risk areas, mainly in the south of the continent. They remain on standby throughout the hot summer months, ready to join local responders as quickly as possible. 

But the programme is about more than strengthening national firefighting capacity – it’s also about sharing expertise and exchanging best practices. It helps prepare firefighters from northern regions where wildfires were once rare but due to climate change, are becoming increasingly common – making these skills essential for the future. 

Launched in 2022 as a pilot project, the EU prepositioning initiative has steadily grown – from 236 firefighters and 6 sending countries in its first year to 671 firefighters from 14 countries today. 

We recently visited 2 of the 6 teams prepositioned in Greece – 1 from Romania and 1 from France, based in Nea Makri near Athens. Here are the highlights.

Between July and September, nearly 680 firefighters from 14 European countries - Italy, Romania, Germany, Slovakia, Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova, Czechia, Austria, France, Latvia, Malta, Estonia, and the Netherlands – were strategically pre-positioned in high-risk areas of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

Greece welcomed 6 teams from Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Moldova, and Romania. 

Colonel Vasileios Bikas has been the main liaison officer of the EU prepositioning programme in Greece since 2022. 

'Through preparation you have the opportunity to build a strong team—getting to know each other, learning each other’s names, even understanding one another’s backgrounds. That way, you’ll perform better, when the real situation - a forest fire, arrives.' 

Hands-on training during downtime

When they’re not actively responding to fires, the prepositioned teams take part in classroom-based training or practice hands-on skills.  

In this image, a Romanian firefighter trains using a fire truck driving simulator.