Filenews 5 August 2025 - by Andreas Pibisis
President Christodoulides has decided to take corrective steps on what is recorded in the reports prepared by the four services involved that had acted in the effort to extinguish the devastating fire that hit mountainous Limassol on July 23.
The arrival in Cyprus of a ten-member team from the United States, which will have as its mission the investigation and evaluation of the management of the recent fires in Cyprus, has been launched.
The U.S. mission, as we are able to know, will operate along the lines of a similar group of Americans sent by the FBI on the issue of Cypriot companies that collaborated with Russian companies that violated sanctions against Russia.
With his move to bring in the American experts, the President of the Republic, according to government circles, shows that he does not stick to what is mentioned in the reports prepared by the Police, the Fire Brigade, the Department of Forests and Civil Defense. These reports will be a basis for American experts, but they will not be the only ones they will check during their presence here.
The reports alone were not considered satisfactory as regards the corrective actions that should be taken by the competent services of the Republic. Besides, in the past, after such incidents, they stayed until the preparation of reports, recording of events and suggestions. Something that is also recorded through the reports received by President Christodoulides, where the same services admit that the suggestions of the past did not proceed to implementation.
That is why President Christodoulides immediately requested the assistance of the American experts, who are expected tomorrow in Cyprus to start work immediately. The team of American experts has experience and action in catastrophic fires in the USA (California and Miami) and internationally.
This is an agency that comes under the U.S. Department of Justice. It is estimated that they will stay in Cyprus for ten days. They will conduct investigations into the causes and conditions of the fire, its spread and fire-extinguishing measures. Fire management measures will then be examined in order to submit suggestions for any deficiencies, additional measures required, reinforcement of aircraft or ground forces, area evacuation systems, etc.
In a written statement, the President states that with a request to the U.S. Government, "I have requested the assistance of the competent American authorities to investigate and evaluate the management of the recent fires." As he says, the U.S. government responded to his request and is immediately sending to Cyprus, in the first phase, a ten-member team of experts, with expertise and experience in investigating similar disasters in the U.S. and internationally. "At the end of their mission, they will submit a report to me," the President notes.
Yesterday, the Presidential Palace proceeded to make public the four reports received by the President of the Republic. The general conclusion drawn from the four event reports of the competent Services (Police, Fire Brigade, Forestry Department and Civil Defence) is that the extremely extreme weather conditions that prevailed on July 23, the day the fire broke out – a combination of high temperatures, drought, strong winds – created an amalgam of dangerous data, which contributed to the rapid spread of the devastating fire.
These conditions that prevailed on the ground put the core fires out of control, destroying everything in their path. This has limited the ability of aircraft and ground firefighting forces, which are increased compared to other fires.
>> The arrival of the American experts sends any discussion on the issue of the reshuffle to after the summer, as what is most important, according to sources close to the government, is the correction of the mistakes recorded during the fire of July 23.
THE EXHIBITIONS:
The Police
Of the Department of Forestry
Civil Defense
Of the Fire Service
Highlights from the reports:
Fire Brigade: Blames local government and asks for personnel
Police: Enigmatic the report on the road cuts and the death of the couple – "Case of Unnatural Death"
Civil Defence: No mention of the dead couple and the absence of early warning – All reports
Department of Forests: Stresses the need for restructuring of the management system of extra-forest areas
