Filenews 2 February 2021
During the year 2020, the Fire Department has responded to a total of 11985 calls for assistance concerning fire calls, Special Services and False Calls.
Also during the year the Fire Department responded to rescues involving people involved in fires, traffic accidents, accidents at work. Other people were also trapped in faulty elevators, collapsed buildings, other high-rise buildings, cliffs, etc.
According to the annual report published today by the Fire Department, the Agency has responded to a total of 7203 fires in Cyprus. Of these, 4789 concerned rural fires and 2414 concerned urban fires.
For the years 2019 to 2020, a change in trend is made by %. It is noted that at the end of this year there is an increase in the total number of fires (urban – rural) of 12.88 %.
Fires of The Paithros
For rural fires, there is an increasing trend for 2020 with the overall rate increasing by 18.95% compared to 2019. The month of April, although every year traditionally showed significant increases due to the clearing or burning of other useless objects that were burning in the open due to the Easter holidays for 2020. There is a significant decrease with the rate of -50.44% in fires occurring in Urban areas and a low increase in rural fires of 6.46% compared to 2019, which is due to the prevention campaigns of the Police and Fire Service with information to the public with both television and radio participations of the press representatives. In addition, the role of the patrols of both the Police and the Fire Department was catalytic due to the prevailing conditions of the pandemic and the restriction of movements and the prohibition of outdoor meetings.
For rural fires, taking into account that the fire season is based on prevailing environmental conditions in May - November, there is an increase of 12.7% for this period. This increase is due to the illegal habit of burning, mainly in the Provinces of Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos.
In addition, the vegetation growth of the winter months of 2019 and the large volume of dry flammable material that existed during the months of the fire season of 2020, both outdoors and in open spaces in urban areas, has been a catalyst in the increase in the rate of fires.
As regards the causes of rural fires, these are due, as has been mentioned, to scorching, deliberate burning, waste/refuse burning, cigarette disposal or other human activities in the open air that may cause fires. For another year, the contribution of the human factor to the challenge is noted, with the figure exceeding 92%.
Urban fires
In addition to urban fires, there is a slight increase of 2.51%. It is possible that this small increase is due to the restrictive measures applied at times due to the pandemic and the increased general activities of the citizens who were under restriction. The main urban fire sites were on plots, motor vehicles, private residences, apartment buildings, refuse bins, other premises and other spaces as detailed in figures and percentages in the table in Annex 6 entitled Building Use. As regards the causes of fires in urban areas, these were mainly due to electrical problems in electrical appliances in residential or premises, electrical or mechanical problems in vehicles, cigarette butts, malicious acts, arson, defective chimneys and fireplaces, incorrect use of heating fireplaces and cooking appliances, incorrect or negligent use of tools or appliances in workplaces. Detailed arithmetic and percentage of fire causes in urban areas is set out in the table in Annex 7 entitled Causes of fires. It is noted that the human factor has played an important role with the causes of fires reaching 90%.
Reference to the burnt area and the economic aspect of fire damage
Worth mentioning is the burnt area of the countryside which is presented for 2020 (18.20sq km), increased by 8.16 sq km compared to 2019 (10.04 sq km).
The economic aspect of the losses is reduced for 2020. According to the approximate damage estimated by the Fire Department, for 2020 there were total damages (EUR 9,915,210 million) of which EUR 9,323,310 million was for urban fires and EUR 591,900,000 for urban fires. related to rural fires. In 2019 there was a total amount of damage (EUR 10,859,502), of which EUR 9,975,807 was for urban fires and EUR 883,395 for rural fires. There is a decrease in damage to urban fires, despite the increase in the number of responses of the Fire Department to urban fires in 2020 which amounted to 2.51% and this is essentially due to the areas that occurred. The reduction in damage to rural fires in 2020, compared to 2019, is also due to the areas where the fires occurred, despite the increased overall rate of rural fires of 18.95% compared to 2019.
Total Rescued, Injured and Dead from Fires
The total number of people rescued, injured or killed as a result of the fires reached 124. Significantly more increased number than in 2019 when the number stood at 80. In detail, the Fire Department carried out 18 fire rescues for 2020 compared to 41 for 2019. There were 103 injuries compared to 31 in 2019, and three people died from fires compared to 8 in the corresponding period last year.
Special Services
There is a decrease in Special Services responses of 13.7%. For 2020 there were 4028 calls compared to 2019 which amounted to 5551. Reduction which is essentially due to reduced responses to flood incidents due to weather conditions, animal rescues, elevator responses and other general special service responses handled by the Fire Department. For the most part, the Fire Department's responses to special services, focus on the de-trapping of persons trapped in defective lifts, flood responses involving rainwater pumping from dwellings or other premises, towing or rescuing persons trapped in their vehicles on flooded roads, openings of rainwater, accident warnings, animal rescues, traffic collision responses and people de-icing , assistance in the transport of patients, assistance to the police in various incidents. A detailed statement of the Reasons for Responding to Special Services in number and percentage by % is presented in the table in Annex 9.
The Fire Department also rescued 1774 people in 2020. The rescues involved people involved in fires, in road collisions, accidents at work, entrapment in defective lifts, de-trapping of persons following the collapse of buildings or other premises, rescues from tall buildings, rescues from wet elements, wells, cliffs either after road accidents or after accident and injury of pedestrian persons and their entrapment in inaccessible areas, or rescues of persons who have lost their orientation in outdoor or forest areas.
More generally, the 1650 cases since 1774 did not concern rescues from fires specific to which reference is made, in paragraph 6, but to the provision of assistance to persons who were at risk or trapped in elevator chambers in which 222 people suffered injuries and 41 resulted in death.
False calls
False calls are divided into 3 categories.
- Malicious: They involve calls, which are false and are made solely with bad intent.
- With a good purpose: They concern calls, which are not ill-intentioned but are made by people who identify in the environment characteristics similar to fire, such as dust in the open air produced by an agricultural tractor which ploughs a field and which is perceived by passers-by as a fire.
- Mechanical or electrical failure: Sound of alarm systems without fire because they have suffered mechanical or electrical failure.
Overall the number of false calls for 2020 is 753 as opposed to 2019 when the number stood at 886. There is a decrease of 15.01 %. However, the vast majority of false calls are for good purpose calls. More specifically for 2020, 647 calls were for good purpose, 93 for mechanical/electrical failure and only 13 for malicious calls. This demonstrates the public's hypersensitivity to prevention and early notification of suppression groups.
Useful conclusions/remarks
According to the Announcement of the Fire Department, despite the difficult environmental conditions that prevailed especially during the fire season, the aggressive tactics applied by the Service with ground and air forces from the initial stage of fires proves to be a catalyst for limiting both rural and urban fires.
In addition to these catalytic factors for the reduction are:
- Good environmental conditions prevailed until the month of June with heavy rainfall.
- The preventive measures taken by all the Services, both the Suppression and Prevention Services
- Human conscientiousness developed following the campaigns on prevention and information of the public, thus significantly reduced the human activities that can cause fires and in addition the timely information that the suppression forces receive when a fire is detected.
- The patrols, the staffing of the Rural Stations, and the cooperation that exists in these matters with all the Suppression Services.
- The contribution of the Police to the investigation of causes of fire by investigative action and the bringing of guilty in court
Source: Eyenews
