Filenews 6 August 2022 - by Despina Psyllou
Fiery tongues are devouring the countryside and urban areas of Cyprus. In just one month, during July, 494 fire incidents were recorded, while since the beginning of the year they have risen to 3,897. As the spokesperson of the Fire Service, Andreas Kettis, clarified to "F", the vast majority of human activities are responsible, describing the scorching as a "scourge". It is vital, he said, at the same time, to deal with a fire immediately and appeal to people to be aware and to notify the authorities when something comes to their attention.
More specifically, during July 2022 there were 494 fires. Of these, 306 broke out in the countryside and 188 in urban areas. In July last year, 24 more were recorded, reaching 518 - 313 in the countryside and 205 in urban areas. "July has fluctuated at the same levels," Mr. Kettis said, adding, "that most of the fires are recorded in Nicosia. It is followed by Limassol, Paphos due to its large agricultural areas, Larnaca, Famagusta".
In addition, from the beginning of 2022 to July, 3,897 fires were recorded. 1,879 occurred in urban areas and 2,018 in the countryside, not counting those that broke out in forest areas. Last year in the corresponding period there were 831 more fires, as they amounted to 4,728. This means that during 2022 they decreased by 17.5%. However, Mr. Kettis clarified that this picture and any decrease recorded, can be radically reversed in the coming months.
"We've seen it happen many times, mostly with rural fires. After all, the risk of fire can contunue up to October or even November. There was a year when we had record fires during December. Of course, the most dangerous months are the three of summer. Especially June and August as stronger winds develop. For the Fire Brigade, the biggest enemy than the high temperatures is the strong winds. For example, in the devastating Arakapas fire with the prevailing winds, the fire travelled 107 metres / per minute.
Urban fires, Mr. Kettis said, are those that occur within cities and communities. "In places such as apartment buildings, apartments, private houses, premises, plots, garbage bins." Similarly, rural fires are characterized as those that occur in rural areas and fields. "93% of rural fires are responsible for human activity, either due to negligence, carelessness, recklessness and even ignorance. The percentage where a fire breaks out from random factors is negligible."
The fires are usually due to "burning of useless objects, lambratzia [bonfires], scorching which is a scourge, discarded cigarette butts, preparing food in unapproved places that do not have fire safety systems, carrying out work in the open air with spark-producing tools," he said and added ''malicious acts''. "It is very easy for a fire to break out, especially with the conditions prevailing at this time, such as high temperatures and prolonged heatwaves, dry flammable matter present in the open air, zero humidity and any winds. It's easy for a fire to break out and expand."
The toll for the fires of a period, Mr. Kettis said, should not be limited to their number. "You may have a decrease in the number of fires, but an increase in the cost of their disasters. For example, to set fire in a factory, where the facilities amount to millions. Therefore, the valuation is made on the basis of space, cost, loss of human lives, to the extent burned. It's a lot of factors."
We are the enemy for the environment
Within a few months, a few thousand fires broke out, the cause of which is man and his activities. For 93% of the fires in the countryside, indifference, carelessness, ignorance, arson are due. These facts are outraged and unacceptable. Our actions have consequences for everyone and can be fatal and murderous. How much lower will we get? The Fire Department ended up appealing to us to love our country and our land.
