Filenews 23 July 2023
He is in the office at 5.30 in the morning, runs six kilometres along the Pedieos River and then starts work. This is the new chief of staff who recently took over the reins of the Fire Brigade, in the post-autonomy era, with many challenges.
The admittedly ageing Service must be renewed, measures must be taken so that we do not have a repeat of the catastrophic fires such as in Arakapas and Solia, and never, ever mourn other firefighters as in Mari. Chief Marshal Nikos Longinos went through all the stages of the Service. He took a hose in his hands and went into flames both in Cyprus and Greece. He came many times in the face with tragedies. He was in danger himself. He carries decades of experience on his back. Now he wants to change a lot in the Fire Brigade and his plans are to even hire psychologists to support firefighters after responding to tragic incidents.
It was recently 12 years since the tragedy in Mari. You have lost six colleagues, what has this tragic event left for the Agency?
July 11 is now a sad day for us. The loss of colleagues cost the Fire Brigade a great deal. However, their sacrifice was not in vain, we must follow their path, learn from the events that took place and from that day that marked the Service, we see things differently. New tactical, operational procedures have been defined and followed in all seriousness because what seems simple is ultimately the most difficult. We must treat every episode we respond to with all seriousness since you do not know how it will unfold. So their sacrifice for us and their heroism made us see things with other tactics so that the firefighter at the end of the day would return to their family.
How did you experience this loss?
–Mari. Personally for me it was a very difficult day. An hour after the explosion I was in the field where the damage happened. I had seen so much that will remain in my memory until the end. Destruction everywhere, corpses on the ground, cars destroyed, a factory next door completely destroyed, fires everywhere, scattered irons. It was an extremely difficult day that will never be forgotten. After that the Service had to deal with many problems and we had to manage our staff to boost their psychology, because to lose six of your colleagues on a good day, you realize is the worst thing that can happen to the Service. I will not hide from you that after this tragedy and because of the difficult work of the firefighter who often comes face to face with tragedies, I asked for the recruitment of psychologists for their continuous support after every episode where they are confronted with macabre events.
– Were there any attempts to raise the morale of the firefighters after Mari?
– Efforts were made, psychologists were called, movements were made to stand the EMAK again, because you realize that the psychology of the staff was shattered. That is why other tactics have been taken, we are now approaching the incidents in a different way. After this incident came the financial crisis in '13 that left the Service without new recruits, many members decided to leave early and a big gap was created. Then came the pandemic, we changed our way of working, the rotations worked 24 hours a day and some others we held back so that if something happened we could replace the staff, so when fatigue set in and we arrived today, where fortunately new positions have been approved and recruitment procedures will begin to strengthen the fire stations and give the old firefighters the opportunity to breathe.
The goal of our management, and I thank the previous directors for the efforts they made, is to lead the Fire Brigade even higher because you realize technology is advancing, so we can upgrade certain areas. Among our plans is the creation of a modern Control Centre funded by European programs, through which there will be direct communication with the vehicles responding to an incident, we will have live images of a fire and thus we will be able to make decisions depending on the development of an episode.
– How is renewal and enhancement planned?
-The process for the recruitment of 260 new firefighters is currently underway, which for the first time is carried out exclusively by us without the involvement of the Police. With these positions, we will strengthen the Evrychou fire station, which will now operate on a permanent 24-hour basis, while it is now with regular hourly paid staff. The station in Moniatis, Vasilikos will be reinforced and at the same time the Unified Coordination Centre of Fire Brigade Operations will be staffed. With the operation of this Centre, all calls to the Fire Brigade will come to it and the fire station closest to a fire will be immediately informed, so that it can respond without the intervention of the relevant district management. Then tablets will be installed on the fire trucks which will show the route of the vehicle in order to shorten the course it will follow to reach an incident more timely without looking for it and not knowing where it is.
– What do the other plans involve?
-At the same time, an app, an application will be created, so that when a citizen calls us and informs us that there is an episode such as a fire or an accident, we send him a link to give us a picture with his mobile phone to know if an episode is large, so that we can activate other fire brigades. Now we are basically going into the dark, since we are waiting for a vehicle to arrive at the scene, the crew to assess the situation and tell us.
We also have a new fleet. We are already receiving nine new fire trucks of a new type with which we will strengthen both cities and rural stations. The new fire station in Ayia Napa begins after the tender has been awarded by Public Works at a cost of €7.5-8 million so the tourist area is strengthened. Soon the construction of a fire station in Pachna begins, works begin for the fire station of Eftagonia which was destroyed by the last fires and at the same time the prospect opens for the construction of a new station in Pedoulas, while there are studies for upgrading the old central station of Larnaka which has been built since 1958 where it will essentially become a new fire station. We are considering the creation of a new modern machine shop, while interviews are being launched and we are hiring citizen engineers to reduce costs for maintenance of our vehicles.
Finally, a new fire station of Lakatamia is planned, which is now based at the Fire Brigade Headquarters and we are in contact to secure gravel land between Lakatamia and Anthoupoli and new facilities are planned for the Department of Fire Safety. Until this building is done, we ask for an area of 400 sq.m. to transfer the Department.
With cameras, drones and fire lookouts
The situation with high temperatures has also changed the way high-risk areas are monitored. According to Mr. Longinos, there is a holistic program where four cameras have been set up in the forests and a large part of forest land and countryside is monitored. Also, modern control centres are operating that give a live image of an episode, while cameras will be installed for monitoring in industrial zones to monitor facilities with hazardous materials. At the same time, there is a team with drones with good results. With drones, dangerous areas are monitored and together with fire lookouts we have an overall picture of all surveillance zones.
According to Mr. Longinos, the challenge of the new leadership is to build a modern Service and remain the first Public Service that is high in the public consciousness. "This is also the case that the Fire Brigade is not only for extinguishing fires, but also for saving human and animal lives, examining arson, detrapping citizens, etc. On the issue of autonomy, the Chief Marshal says that it was a very important decision for the evolution of the Fire Brigade.
Cooperation with ETEK and Contractors
– ETEK and the Contractors Association complain about delays in examining their applications for building upgrades or new investments. How do you respond?
– A meeting has already taken place in the presence of the Minister of Justice with ETEK and some meetings have been scheduled during which we will guide the scholars and those involved in the subject of submitting applications related to fire safety. According to the law, the designers should prepare the plans for fire safety issues, ie smoke detectors, wrappers and anything else needed for fire safety purposes and not prepare them ourselves, so when we found a common component, the plans will come complete from the designers and we will supervise and advise them so that there is an expedited examination of applications. So we're going to deal with what we have to, because now we're doing the scholars' job.
- Bill will change everything for the Fire Service
For years, the issue of active fire safety has been discussed. That is, when you go to a building to deal with a fire, the media such as bells, alarms, smoke detectors must be activated if there is smoke or fire, to inform the occupants to leave the building and at the same time create conditions for firefighters to enter and extinguish the fire before it spreads to the building. notes Chief Marshal Nikos Longinos, in an interview with Phileleftheros.
"Personally, I had many experiences where I was in danger of staying inside the building and I was in danger because none of the above worked. This is because there was no one, after handing over a building to the owners, to certify that all this was working. We raised the issue with the Minister of Justice and she prepared a bill that will be forwarded to Parliament, so that after 2-3 years the building will be inspected and certified that everything is working normally and if it is not complied with, penalties of fine or imprisonment will be foreseen. This will help us do our job more properly and quickly, as well as the safe evacuation of the occupants. This issue has also been raised with the President of the Parliament, who assured us that she will do everything she can for a vote soon in plenary."
– How will the Fire Brigade manage a fire in a tall building?
– The policy followed is the same for dealing with a fire in an apartment building. We have already been reinforced with a new type of hydraulic platform of 60m. while until now it was 30m. and is located at Limassol fire stations. Staff have been trained to handle it. But I must say that a tall building cannot be covered from the ground. What matters is that the active fire safety of the building itself works. They are the firefighter's elevators, the breathing apparatus they will carry, the water transfer systems in the special pipes that will be on each floor, special water tanks, etc. It is important to vote to change the legislation. All the work will be done by the firefighters so it is very important to have all the systems we ask for fire safety purposes.
What actions are you taking so that we do not have catastrophic fires again in Arakapas?
– We have excellent cooperation with the Department of Forests and other services, we respond at the same time and fortunately until today we have kept the fires before they spread. We cooperate with voluntary organizations whose members will now be covered by security following a decision of the Council of Ministers, we train them, we have issued them IDs, we have given them protective equipment and now in an incident they are called to help. People will not come again as in the past without equipment and their lives were in danger. Recently, the Volunteer Fire Brigade Law was passed, those who were interested will be trained, given clothing and we will use them whenever there is a need.
