Presidents from the German Fire Service Association visited German brigades in the Swedish forest fires

Over the weekend, the President of the German Fire Services Association, Mr. Hartmut Ziebs, and the President of the State Fire Services Association Lower Saxony, Mr. Karl-Heinz Banse, visited the German fire fighters from Lower Saxony who were helping out in the Swedish forest fires.

"These days there are devastating fire disasters in Greece and Sweden. Unfortunately, the long-lasting drought and the current weather forecasts still show no signs of relief", said Deputy Managing Director Rudolf Römer in a statement.

A group of firefighters from Nienburg, Lower Saxony in Germany has been active as part of the EU cooperation effort since a few days back days. The German firefighters have been working in the Province of Dalarna where some of the most challenging wildfires have been raging.

"More firefighters from German fire brigades are ready to go", says Rudolf Böhmer.

Since the weekend, rain in some areas has brought relief to the firefighting efforts and several of the wildfires are now - momentarily - under control. However, some new wildfires also started due to lightning form thunder storms.

The crisis is in the Swedish forests is not over but fire services and authorities are more hopeful. It all depends now on what type of weather August will bring - so far the forecast is somewhat lower temperatures and some rain. However, a lot of rain would be needed to completely extinguish the largest forest fires.