Filenews 28 June 2021 - by Dora Christodoulou
Nightmarish scenery, alluding to the tragic moments experienced by the Mati region in Attica in 2018, prevailed for hours in Tala and especially in the luxurious settlement of Kamares on Saturday afternoon, from the fire that raged for hours. uncontrollable. Despite the huge mobilisation of the firefighting force, villas and cars were engulfed in flames, residential residents were removed from their homes which were "licked" by the flames, while a huge area of one and a half square kilometres of greenery for Cyprus has been burnt to the ground.
Yesterday's investigations, which followed the extinguishment of the fire late on Saturday night, show that the disaster was caused by EAC cables that came into contact and caused sparks from which a fire broke out. This was confirmed by statements by the assistant police director of Paphos, Nikos Tsappis, as well as the spokesman of the Fire Department, Andreas Kettis. To this version they show, they said, and testimonies of local residents who had from the first moment reported to the authorities that shortly before the outbreak of the fire they noticed sparks in electrical voltage cables in the area "Zelemenos" of Kamares.
Research has also shown no outbreaks of fire that refer to malicious human activity, as is usually the case in cases of human factors, officials stressed.
While investigations are continuing, however, to clarify beyond any doubt how the fire was caused, the aerial firefighting equipment also carried out yesterday at first light in the area of Kamares and the wider area between Talas and Hollow, in order to ensure that no fire outbreaks remain active to create conditions of resurgence with the rise in temperature yesterday.
At the same time, the Prefect of Paphos, Mary Lambrou, went to the area yesterday, who, on instructions from the Minister of the Interior, went with a workshop of the Technical Services of her Office in Tala for a detailed record of the damage to buildings and other premises from the fire in Tala and Koili.
"There will also be a general report on the damage to plantations and trees for the competent Ministry of Agriculture to proceed with registration," stressed Prefect Paphos.
The fire in the area of Tala was the most serious this year in Cyprus, both in terms of damage to property and at risk of human casualties, stressed characteristically to the "F" officials of the Police, Fire and Civil Defence.
It broke out at noon and very soon, due to the morphology of the area and the greenery that exists, it took on very worrying dimensions, moving essentially within a residential area. From the very first moment the Police in cooperation with the Civil Defence evacuated houses, while the firefighting forces were reinforced with three more vehicles from the provinces of Larnaca and Nicosia and from EMAC.
The Cyprus Fire Department, said the force's spokesman, Andreas Kettis, immediately implemented the Icarus 2 project, with seven aerial devices including two helicopters leased by the Republic and three aircraft of the Department of Forestry, while they were reinforced with two more helicopters from the British Bases, increasing the number of aerial means to nine.
Despite the giant mobilization, three villas in the luxurious settlement of Leptos Kamares Village of Tala were engulfed in flames, other villas were damaged on the outside by the flames, while cars parked and whose owners are outside Cyprus were engulfed in flames, creating a nightmarish scene.
The superhuman efforts of the members of all the state agencies, the Local Government and residents of the area subsequently reduced the risk to the residential area and until the evening the effort continued to control the fire in the hidden areas around Tala.
Just before 8pm on Saturday night, the fire, which caused major damage to property and the natural environment, was brought under control. Throughout the night, ground forces of the Fire Department remained at the place to extinguish small fires, but also to prevent any resurgences.
Meanwhile the electricity supply to the wider area of the fire, which had been interrupted, gradually began to be restored from the same evening. The interruption in electricity was in the areas of Talas, Stroubiou, Koilis, Tsadas, Kallepeia, Letybou.
Catalytic Intervention of Fire Brigade
If the firefighting forces did not intervene so quickly and if the fire were not noticed so quickly by residents who rushed to assist in the first critical minutes, then in Tala Cyprus would have its own Eye like Attica.
This complaint is made by speaking to "F" the MP Paphos of DIKO Chrysanthos Savvides, who was found from the first moment in the area of fiery hell, even participating in the work of firefighting assisting the Fire Brigade forces who arrived at the scene from which the fire broke out. Mr. Savvides pointed out that the peculiarity of the Kamares area, with its very dense greenery and the villas built within it, created nightmarish moments for hundreds of residents. The State should, he points out, draw up a special fire protection plan for the area, since it is a suburb of unique natural beauty, in the green and with many dwellings in which the owners do not live permanently, since they are mostly foreigners and therefore cannot act directly to protect their property.
"It is up to the state and its competent agencies to carry out a plan to prevent new ones, similar to today's disasters, since in addition it is known that the morphology of the territory in Tala, with its many uneven levels, makes it difficult for ground forces to intervene immediately," he said. The specificity of the area's proximity to the Monastery of Agios Neophytos should be another factor in its more serious treatment in terms of fire protection, he said. It is well known that there are great and unique relics in the Monastery and they should not be endangered in such cases, he concluded.
Serious damage to 3 houses
At the end of the recording and tour of the affected areas, Mary Lambrou said that an area of two square kilometres of green, wild vegetation, trees and plantations of crops, mainly in the Koili soil, had been destroyed. In Tala, she said, three houses have also been badly damaged, two of which have been almost completely destroyed. Four other houses have been severely damaged on the exterior of the houses, she stressed.
"On all these issues, the interior minister was constantly informed, and the aim is to make a political decision to compensate those affected," he said.
For her part, the President of the Community Council of Talas, Areti Pieridou, expressed satisfaction that at least we did not mourn human lives in her expression. There was a lot of disruption to the residents because the fire was in a residential area, she stressed, and she welcomed the immediate response from the Fire Department and other agencies. She also thanked the volunteers and the community's firefighting team who had been in the area from the very first moment.
Koili's communautaire, Michalakis Efthymiou, said Koili counts enormous damage and destruction of the environment. Although the Fire Department rushed to the area in time, he noted, a misestimation of the situation may have been made, since within minutes the fire was found outside Koili residences. It was, however, life-saving, he stressed, the intervention of the Fire Brigade and other state agencies.
Remains the "Red Alert"
The risk of explosion and expansion of forest fires will remain at the "Red Alert" level today Monday, the Department of Forestry says.
A notice states that lighting a fire without a permit is prohibited and that it constitutes an offence which, according to the Forests Act 2012, he is punishable by imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to €50,000.00 or both sentences together and, according to the Prevention of Fires in the Outdoors Act of 1988, up to 5 years or a fine of up to €20,000 or both penalties together.
Lighting a fire, for food preparation, is only allowed in the grills of the excursion areas, it is added.
It also strongly appeals to the public to be particularly careful during their excursions, fully avoiding actions and activities likely to cause a fire, such as the use of tools or agricultural machinery that produces heat, sparks or flame, such as welding.
Finally, in case anyone notices smoke or fire they are asked to call 1407 (Forest Department) or 112 (Fire Department).
