Filenews 29 August 2025 - by Michalis Hatzivasilis
The Civil Defence has taken immediate actions to correct the weaknesses identified during the recent deadly fire in Mountainous Limassol, in order to prevent the same phenomena from happening again, while it has started contact with all communities, so that they know how to react in case of emergency.
According to information obtained by "F", a letter has already been sent on behalf of the Civil Defence to all community leaders throughout Cyprus in relation to the "Polyvios" plan concerning evacuations due to emergency situations, direct communication with the community councils is established through a radio which has begun to be granted, while an implementation is also coming through Cyta, for simultaneous contact with the community leader, community council members and predetermined community members. At the same time, on-site trainings for community leaders and members of community councils began on how to escape, the places of gathering and the familiarization of the members of the Civil Defense with the communities.
Also, the Civil Defence is running for the implementation within 2026 of three major projects, namely the Public Warning System (PWS) on citizens' mobile phones in case of emergency, the 112 for receiving voice or video from people in need and the implementation of a platform so that the Service has audio and video of events in real time.
Specifically, immediately after the catastrophic fire, a letter was sent by the Civil Defense to all the community leaders in which they again refer to the most important points of the Special National Plan "Polyvios" and the role of them and the members of the community council. Also, in this letter, communities are urged to harness the potential of technology (either through mobile phone providers or via Viber) to send mass messages to residents of their community in case of emergency.
For the purposes of ensuring uninterrupted communication between the Service and the community leader and the members of the community council, the process of granting a mobile radio to each community has begun. In consultation with the community leaders, 2-3 people of the community will be designated who will receive training, so that in case of emergency they can operate the radio to communicate with the Civil Defense. In addition, preparatory work has been carried out for direct and simultaneous communication with the president, the members of the community council and selected residents of the community, through an application offered to us by Cyta.
In another move for the better training of both the Community Authorities and familiarization of the members of the Civil Defence, visits of members of the Service were started on the spot, in order to explain their role in the event of the activation of the "Polybius" project, while, at the same time, points of interest were added at the time of the evacuation that were not included in the plan, such as hospitals, areas that are usually used as camps, individual residences, livestock premises where personnel are employed, all escape exits are identified, etc. In this way, the members of the Civil Defence are also familiar with the area and the communities. Also, the Civil Defense has started the process of revising the "Polybius" plan so that it contains all the important information in a way that is easier to use.
In relation to the management of the fire victims, we were told that the Civil Defence has undertaken the issue of temporary accommodation and assistance to the fire victims and has arranged their temporary stay in various accommodations until it is clear whether they will return to their homes or whether they will need to rent space for accommodation until the full restoration of their permanent residence. It also manages the issue of long-term residence as well as the payment of the rent allowance in cases where the status of their permanent residence does not allow them to return immediately.
In another action, the Civil Defence has drawn up a plan to inform the residents about the Troodos government residences. Since these residences are of high risk since they are scattered and isolated in Troodos, a procedure has been established for mass information by the Civil Defense in case of emergency of the residents of the residences with a message on the mobile phone on the basis of data that will be provided by the Ministry of Transport, which manages these residences. On the issue of camps that arose during last month's deadly fire, a letter will be sent to the Ministry of Education, as well as to other competent bodies for discussion and regulation of the issue.
In 2026, three projects to inform citizens
Much has been said about why there is no system for informing the population en masse with a message on the mobile phone in case of emergency, as is the case in Greece. The Civil Defence is proceeding with the development of an early warning system for the population, the well-known Public Warning System (PWS)
The process of developing the system for sending messages to citizens' mobile phones in cases of emergency is at a very advanced stage. The Civil Defense hopes that the system will be fully implemented by May 2026.
It also promotes the Next Generation 112 (NG 112) pan-European emergency number management system. This system concerns the management of calls (voice, text messages, videos, images, etc.) that will be made to the Civil Defence by citizens who are either in danger or want to report an incident that has come to their attention and endangers other citizens, or property, in order to send assistance. Based on the specifications, this system will locate the caller with significant accuracy and will provide immediate and simultaneous electronic information to various emergency services, which will be activated to provide immediate assistance. This system is expected to be implemented towards the end of 2026. At this stage, the old system that only receives voice calls is managed by the Police.
The Civil Defence, after identifying the weaknesses of the overall monitoring of the fire incident and receiving valid and timely information, in order to be able to make critical decisions (such as evacuation and indicating safe escape routes) quickly, promotes the development of a Common Operational Picture (COP) platform to monitor the evolution of a crisis in real time through a field image and provide the necessary information for the purposes of guidance/utilization of the forces that operate and the forces that they evacuate through the use of artificial intelligence.
Reorganization is promoted
It is noted that following the recent approval by the Council of Ministers of the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, Konstantinos Ioannou, the reorganization and staffing of the Civil Defence with specialized personnel who will be able to meet the requirements as they are formed in the new environment, where the Service will evolve into the National Civil Protection Mechanism. It is also promoted the creation and management of the national database for the reduction of the risk of disasters, the management of the National Coordination Center for Civil Protection, etc. It is noted that today the Civil Defence is staffed with a permanent staff of 32 people.
