STORY: Firefighters from Germany side by side with French colleagues in the fight against forest fires in south-west France. High temperatures and a lack of rain have been giving the troops a hard time here for weeks. New fires keep breaking out, and the risk remains high, the authorities said on Friday. Reinforcements from other European countries are still very welcome. The support from Germany is led by Martin Haselbauer from the Bonn fire brigade. Communicated in English. “For us, it goes without saying that we support our French colleagues. We work shoulder to shoulder with the other EU teams from Poland, Romania and Austria. From our point of view, this is European solidarity, that’s how the EU’s civil protection mechanism works.” “Fortunately, we are not confronted with this type of fire in Germany at the moment, but the deployment procedures and further exercises allow us to gather impressions. This way we can not only help each other, but also gain knowledge and experience for our own work in Germany collect.” The teams from Germany wear their own uniform and use their own equipment. They also support the French colleagues in digging firebreaks and fighting embers.