The combined force of 140 operatives sent by Portugal to Canada to help fight the wildfires in that country arrives in Lisbon this Thursday, 15 days after the mission began.
The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) said in a statement that the National Joint Operational Force (Focon), sent to Canada to support the fight against wildfires, will arrive at the Figo Maduro military airfield at 22:15 today. , in Lisbon.
Focon consisting of 140 ANEPC operatives, the ANEPC Special Civil Protection Force, the GNR Emergency Protection and Assistance Squad (UEPS), the Institute for Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF), members of the fire brigades of the Centro Region and Autonomous Region of Madeira, and the National Institute of Emergency Medicine (INEM) left Lisbon on 14 June.
The Portuguese mission, led by the Second Regional Commander for Emergency and Civil Protection of the North, Armando Silva, operated in Lebel-sur-Queville, in the province of Quebec, one of the worst affected by the fires.
Portugal’s assistance was linked to a request for international assistance in the fight against forest fires, which the Canadian authorities made through the European Civil Protection Mechanism.
Canada has been battling wildfires since early May in an unprecedented fire season that has destroyed about 7.7 million hectares.