Filenews 25 July 2025 - by Fanis Makridis
The big question of why the deadly course of the fire storm that began the day before yesterday from the northwestern semi-mountainous city of Limassol (community of Malia) and reached Ypsonas could not be contained, hangs in the balance.
In the effort of "F" and journalists of other media to get answers from competent services to the hot questions, contradictions were found always in relation to the relevant testimonies of citizens and members of community councils.
In addition, the explanations for people's complaints about the lack of timely intervention and insufficient support with aerial means of forest firefighting, for the time being, have not been answered in a satisfactory way.
In simple words, the management of the operation from early Wednesday noon until late at night arises, with the tragic toll of the loss of two human lives, the destruction of dozens of houses and the writing of one of the darkest pages in the history of Cyprus in terms of devastating fires.
There are clearly mitigating factors. The high temperatures, which create heat wave conditions (over 40 degrees Celsius), as well as the winds blowing in the area, made the blaze unpredictable. And of course, the preservation of human life is the number one factor in such cases. Unquestionably, you cannot sacrifice people on the altar of saving property.
However, these parameters do not deprive the possibility of the journalistic control that must be carried out to prevent the repetition of such phenomena. In the following lines we quote testimonies on specific issues and explanations that were given to us yesterday.
Deviation of more than one hour
Starting from the point we touched on from the data so far, there is no clear picture of the time when the fire broke out in the community of Malia in Limassol. As reported the day before yesterday by the correspondent of CyBC in Limassol, Maria Constantinou, two separate testimonies given to her by name state that the fire broke out before 01:00 noon. According to one testimony, the fire was detected at 12:20 and the other testimony sets the time of the outbreak of the fire at 12:40. The spokesperson of the Fire Service, Andreas Kettis, speaking yesterday morning on the CyBC news show "First Information" (10:40), said that the fire was reported to the Fire Service at about 13:20, while the first water drop from a flying vehicle in Malia took place at 14:20.
At the same time that Mr. Kettis was assigned to CyBC, a competent person from the Ministry of Agriculture who spoke to "F" reported that the report on the fire was made at 13:28 by a citizen through the 1407 telephone line.
Later, the chief fire chief of the Fire Department, Nikos Longinos, would agree with this time given to "F" (13:28), in his statements yesterday shortly after 11:00 to the journalist of CyBC, Tasos Christodoulou ("From Day to Day").
It should be noted here that the first public information about the fire was made through the account on the "X" platform by Mr. Andreas Kettis the day before yesterday at 14:45.
The hours and the timetable in general are considered an important element because the exact time when the Fire Service is notified is always recorded and made public. With the weather conditions of the season and the special circumstances, the response time of the firefighting forces plays a decisive role. And unfortunately, a day after the tragedy, there were no clear reports on time.
The timetable given to "F" by the Ministry of Agriculture for the actions taken in the first decisive moments:
>> 13:28 – There was official information about a fire in the community of Malia through the telephone line 1407.
>> 13:36 – The Fire Department responded.
>> 13:50 – Take-off of forest firefighting aircraft.
>> 13:57 – The Fire Department requested the assistance of the Forestry Department.
>> 13:59 – Request from the Fire Service for the assistance of the Police with the dispatch of forces to the area.
>> 14:20 – First drops from aircraft.
The world didn't see flying
From the timetable officially given to us by the Ministry of Agriculture for the reaction time of the aircraft leased by the Department of Forestry (under the said Ministry), we were given the assurance that at 13:50, 22 minutes after the notification of the fire, aerial forest firefighting vehicles took off.
We asked why until the day before yesterday around 16:00 in the afternoon people were protesting that they did not see drops from flying aircraft.
The answer we received from the Ministry of Agriculture was that the fire front was huge and this resulted in businesses not being noticed in some areas.
Yesterday, Mr. Kettis had said in public statements that the course of the fire could not be predicted due to the weather conditions and the alternation of the air.
Away from the front
One of the main issues raised about the catastrophic fire brawl the day before yesterday is why more forest firefighters (apart from operators of land promoters and a small number of forest firefighters) did not attempt to extinguish the fire, i.e. executives of the Department of Forests who are well acquainted with extinguishing fires in the countryside and are able to approach the fire front.
As is well known in circles dealing with the field of public safety, the vehicles of the Department of Forestry are equipped with a large number of water pipes and therefore able to operate at a great distance from their fire truck.
An expert told "F" that "the vehicles of the Forestry Department are equipped with at least 14 water pipes of 40 meters each, which enables forest firefighters to operate up to a distance of half a kilometer and be able to approach the fire front."
This is also attributed to the limited reaction of members of the Fire Department. Besides, citizens with visual material that they made public, presented members of the P.Y. being inside their vehicles and not operating, while houses were engulfed in flames.
It should be noted that the area affected by the fire is under the jurisdiction of the Fire Department. This is despite the fact that it is in charge of tasks in the cities. The geomorphology of the area, however, is peculiar. These are rural areas with residential developments.
A source of "F" reported that the Department of Forests was six kilometers away from the fire that broke out and two kilometers around the forest. In other words, it did not fall within his immediate area of responsibility.
When we asked an official of the Department of Forests why he did not respond with larger ground forces, we were told that the risk of a fire breaking out in the area of responsibility of the Department of Forests could not be underestimated and that it would remain uncovered.
"In the event that large forces of the Department of Forests abandoned the forest areas, then in a possible new front in their areas of responsibility, we would be talking about an unspeakable tragedy," he commented.
It should be noted that Mr. Kettis did not respond to our efforts yesterday to communicate with him in order to raise the issues raised.
Misplaced throws and conditions
A testimony we received from a certain member of the crew of a flying vehicle, states that pilots of forest firefighting aircraft were not able to make water drops accurately.
It should be noted here that based on contracts for the provision of forest firefighting services, the leased aircraft have foreign pilots who, according to some positions expressed to us, are not fully familiar with the conditions and geomorphology of the terrain in which they operate.
However, in televised statements on the issue of the drops, the spokesman of the Fire Department, Andreas Kettis, referred to "alternating winds" that make the work of those who were attempting to extinguish the fire very difficult.
With the position that the weather conditions were special the day before yesterday, the Director of the Meteorological Service, Philippos Tymvios, also advocates. Speaking to "F" and his colleague Ioanna Mantziapa, he stressed that the winds were blowing in the opposite direction, pushing the fire southwards, in the direction of Limassol. The intensity of the winds reached 5-6 Beaufort, while wind gusts even reached 8 Beaufort.
Police Assistance
The day before yesterday, the Police also participated by air in the operations that took place. We remind you that a number of members of the Police handled the incident with the 36 people who were trapped in Lofou.
Receiving an official position from the Police yesterday, it was clarified to us that the two Bell helicopters are in full operational readiness and that they are able to participate in the operations.
As we were told, one of these aircraft had a mechanical failure and was decommissioned for 2-3 hours yesterday morning, however, we were given the assurance that the damage has been repaired and is in operational readiness.
"Civil Defense is non-existent"
In yet another natural disaster, the Civil Defense was at the center of criticism. An issue was raised about its timely response. The president of the Confederation of Secondary Education Teachers, Loizos Constantinou, called on the Civil Defense executives to resign.
The representative of the Civil Defence, Panagiotis Liasidis, in his statements on the show "From Inside in Mera" on CyBC, spoke about actions taken in order to handle humanitarian issues.
However, he was not clear in his reports when he was asked specific questions. He was asked by his CyBC colleague, Tasos Christodoulou, "how many people the Civil Defence helped, where and how many people it helped", with Mr. Liasidis mentioning, among other things, that yesterday 16 vehicles participated in the provision of assistance with 36 people.
In the same discussion, he was asked about what Mr. Constantinou accused. Mr. Liasidis responded by saying that "I have no comments to make. They tarnish the work we have done and the volunteers who help us."
The CyBC journalist returned: "What did you do in Lofou Mrs. Liaside?" The representative of the Civil Defense replied, among other things, that "we had sent people to Lofou to help".
Loizos Constantinou appeared on the air of the show, who referred to a camp for minors in Lofou and that the children fled due to the actions of their parents, formulating the position that the Civil Defense was indifferent. After Mr. Constantinou's intervention, Liasidis did not respond on the merits.
Earlier, in a message on social media, Loizos Constantinou wrote the following: "The leadership of the Civil Defense must submit its resignation as a group. Incompetent, non-existent and champions of inadequacy They were informed about the student camp of Lofou and showed criminal indifference. Shame on them. I know they are not interested, but we have handed over the children to their relatives safely..... without their own contribution. From a Civil Defense Service they have been transformed into a Service of Political Non-Existence".
The President forewarned about the operations in the fire
From early the night before yesterday it became clear that the firefighting forces of the deadly fire in mountainous Limassol would not focus their efforts on extinguishing fires that were raging in residents' properties.
President Nikos Christodoulides, who in the late afternoon went to the crisis center in Agios Ambrosios (before it was transferred to another point), in his statements to journalists around 20:14 repeated the phrase "human lives" five times in his statements - lasting about three minutes - in his attempt to emphasize what the concern of the security forces in the area was.
Shortly before, the operations of the aircraft had been completed due to darkness and around 09:00 there began to be a flow of journalistic information about victims in mountainous Limassol.
In fact, the President focused particularly on the public appeal for citizens to comply with the instructions for the evacuation of affected communities.
He even reacted to questions from journalists to suggest that the concern is human lives.
He also hinted at the fact that the goal of preserving human lives will not be abandoned for the sake of property. He tried to be clear on this issue, saying that "from then on I want to make a public appeal to the whole world. I fully understand the issue of properties, but people must follow the instructions of those who know better than all of us, to move away from their homes."
Of course, he sent the message that "the State will be here and will respond to the fullest for all these material losses that are of particular importance, I do not underestimate them".
In a few words, he clearly gave the stigma of the decisions for the operations overnight and the message that the fires under the conditions (winds blowing) could not be brought under control.
However, the situation in the evening hours was tense. People with their posts on social media presented fire trucks and commented that the firefighters were watching instead of operating.
Characteristic is the video uploaded by a citizen from Souni and shows a number of houses burning, commenting that vehicles are parked at the edges of the roads, with firefighters watching.
In another video the day before yesterday, citizens call on a fire truck crew to do something and save property. "Because if you don't do something, go down (...) The houses are screaming," the citizen shouts characteristically.
A member of the crew is shown answering one of the citizens and talking to him about "human life", revealing the instructions he had received.
At the same time, however, the government was giving information about firefighting operations that were in full progress. Government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis noted: "Operations to extinguish the fire fronts are in full swing, with all forces making superhuman efforts under particularly adverse conditions."
