Greece asking countries for ground teams to replace exhausted firefighters

The Greek government is seeking help from abroad to replace its ground firefighting teams which are at the brink of exhaustion after about three weeks of fighting against massive wildfires that have scorched swathes of forest land around the country since August 3.

Greek firefighters have had to work long shifts in high temperatures and with little sleep for days, assisted by foreign teams that arived to help with the blazes in Evia, around Athens and the Peloponnese.

As part of the relief, the government has agreed with Poland to retain the firefighters who arrived in Greece on August 9, and has been in contact with other countries for additional ground team assistance.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis thanked his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, for the constant support in firefighting efforts, announcing that the visiting firefighters will remain in Greece for another two weeks.

“The Polish firefighters are doing an amazing job on the ground and we are glad to have them by our side,” he tweeted.