There were no major destructive fires on the island this summer. The forest department said it has found an approach to quickly bring the blaze under control.
The head of the Forestry Department, Savvas Ezekiel, told the Cyprus News Agency that the services were successfully dealing with fires this summer. He cited the mobilization of a larger team, even for small fires, as well as increasing citizen awareness as key factors.
Now, Forest Department officials are always on standby to immediately extinguish any fire. Even if a message is received that smoke is visible somewhere, all available fire and forest service personnel in the area are sent to the scene.
Next, planes and helicopters are brought into a state of readiness so that they can take off immediately upon receiving the appropriate command. Firefighters and forestry crews arriving at the site of a fire bring water tankers and earth-moving machines with them.
The “more is better than less” approach and improved preparedness levels helped control the fire at a very early stage of its spread.
Better citizen awareness also helped control the fires. People now either quickly notice fires themselves and eliminate them, or immediately call the fire department for help.
Savvas Ezekiel shared that this summer in the Polis Chrysochous area, car drivers noticed a fire starting near the road. As a consequence, 20 cars stopped, the drivers collected all the water they had with them and put out the fire before it spread. The cause of the fire was either a cigarette butt or particulate matter from the exhaust.
If anyone notices a fire, they should call the Forestry Department (1407) or emergency services (112). Don’t delay calling specialized services.
The text was prepared based on materials from Cyprus Mail
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The Bank of Cyprus' volunteer organization SupportCY dispatched a team of five volunteer firefighters on August 11 to help put out fires in the suburbs of Athens, Greece. Read the link.
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