Operation in Corsica

Local Florianis extinguish fire in island paradise

The Florianis battled the flames in extreme heat.(Bild: NÖ Landesfeuerwehrverband)

Firefighters from Lower Austria battled a forest fire in Corsica under difficult conditions. They were actually only in the Mediterranean for training purposes.

A delegation of 26 Lower Austrian firefighters in Corsica experienced first-hand just how quickly an exercise can turn into an emergency. The comrades had actually set off for the Mediterranean island with six vehicles to take part in the two-week EU project "Prepositioning". The aim of this project is to preventively deploy forces to fight forest fires in particularly high-risk areas. But the training was soon to turn into bitter reality.

After a briefing, the Florianis were flown by helicopter to the vicinity of the forest fire.(Bild: NÖ Landesfeuerwehrverband)

A lightning strike with consequences
A forest fire had broken out near the municipality of Olmi-Cappella as a result of a lightning strike. The flames had already spread over an area of around 3000 square meters. After learning all the details from their French colleagues that evening, the local firefighters were ready in the early hours of the morning to head inland over rough terrain. From there, they were then flown by helicopter up a mountain to fight the sea of flames under the most difficult conditions.

Despite the extreme heat, our emergency services managed to successfully extinguish the fire within two hours. They then returned by helicopter.