Finland gets EU funding for fighting forest fires

Finland has received EU funding to build a rescue team for fighting forest fires, said the Ministry of the Interior in a press release on Friday.

The European Commission granted co-financing for a joint project of the rescue departments of South Karelia, North Karelia, South Savo, North Savo and Kymenlaakso for the procurement of special equipment required for a rescue team fighting forest fires.

The rescue team to be set up with EU funding will improve Finland’s preparedness for major forest fires.

The team can be easily deployed elsewhere in Europe as needed. The rescue team is a quickly deployable special rescue unit consisting of 55 people and several vehicles. It can be used for forest fire fighting and for water transportation in Finland and more widely in Europe.

The team can also be deployed to flooded areas and used for high capacity pumping. The nearest similar rescue teams are currently located in France and Poland.

This rescue team is part of the Finn Rescue Team, and is internationally known as Arctic Ground Forest Firefighting using Vehicles.

The rescue team for which funding was granted is to be operational at the beginning of 2023. The total value of the project is about EUR 1,553,000, with the EU contributing EUR 1,165,000.

The project financing comes from the EU Civil Protection Pool (ECPP), which is part of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. By accepting this financing, Finland undertakes to participate in the ECPP for a period of seven years. The objective is to create a rescue team that meets the performance requirements of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.