Cyprus burns |
From THE CYPRUS WEEKLY - 16-22 June, 2000 (Issued on 16/06/00) |
CYPRUS is facing the worst fire disaster since the bombing of its forests by the Turkish airforce in 1974. Boosted by high temperatures and fanned by strong winds, the flames have raged for days in all six districts of the freeareas, destroying vegetation, trees and pine forests and endangering communities. A convent was evacated. The combined efforts of the Fire Service, backed by soldiers and volunteers as well as police, plus National Guard and RAF helicopters, proved inadequate to control the many blazes and forced the government to ask for outside help. |
By Phillippos Stylianou |
Easy Greece responded readily, sending two fire-fighting planes and a C-130 transport aircraft carryinga team of fire rangers, who went into action yesterday morning. The Canadair planes can carry four tons of water each. Two more fire-fighting helicopters, accompanied by a C-130 transport plane with 20 firemen on board, flew in from Israel in the afternoon of the same day. President Clerides overflew the worst-hit hilly area of Larnaca in a helicopter and later chaired a crisis meeting in the threatened village of Kato Drys, with the participation of the Defence and Agriculture ministers, the District Officers of Larnace and Limassol, the Fire Service and police chiefs and other officials. |
Commenting on criticism that the services had been slow to react to the situation, Clerides said that "it is easy for those who sit in armchairs to jump to conclusions" and invited them to come and see for themselves how others have been fighting the fires night and day. Asked if the possibility of arson is being investigated, Clerides said: "All possibilities are being investigated. Certainly the first thing we are doing now is to combat the situation and perhaps later we'll go deeper into what has caused so many fires breaking out." |
Wind Replying to another question, the President said that what has happened proved the need to have fire-fighter planes, regardless of the cost since the destruction caused by fires is much more costly. Fire-fighting efforts are being coordinated by a centre of operatoins set up at the Fire Service headquarters in Lakatamia, with the participation of officials from the Forestry Department, the Interior Ministry, Civil Defence and the police. The efforts were concentrated on the worst-hit areas of Larnaca and Limassol, where the change in wind directin kept creating new fiery fronts. |
PALL OF DESTRUCTION: A Greek fre-fightting plane flies over the smoke-covered village of Kato Drys yesterday. |
The fire engulfs an orchard. |
The gardens of many homes were destroyed by fire. |
Yesterday afternoon, the Larnaca fire blazed northwards towards the picturesque village of Lefkara, famed for its lace and silver work. Fire Brigade spokesman Christodoulos Hambis told The Cyprus Weekly that they were confident that with the help of the Greek fire-fighter planes, Lefkara would not be endagered. The same fire moved westwards towards the villages of Akapnou and Ora, and the helicopters were trying to contain it. Hambis said that four more pieces of heavy machinery were being brought in from Paphos to reinforce the creation of anti-tire barriers. Construction companies were also volunteering heavy vehicles and other equipment to help the fire-fighters. |
CONVENT EVACUATED: The flames approach Ayios Minas convent, prompting its evacuation. |
Nuns Earlier, 18 nuns were evacuated from the Ayios Minas convent, tears in their eyes as they carried away with them religious relics and personal belongings. The dangerto the monastery was finally averted, but a country house in the area was gutted just as the firemen managed to evacuate its two occuants. The island-wide inferno has so far been without loss of life, but firemen and volunteers have been taken to hospital suffering from burns and smoke inhalation. A volunteer was rescued from a steep ravine after a fall with his tractor. The total damage has not yet been estimated as the destruction is continuing, but the fires have taken a heavy toll on the island's environment. Vast expanses of greennery have been blackened, while farms and public utility installations have been burnt out. Forty fires in three days The fires started breaking out on Tuesday, with the first serious one in no-man's-land near the Lefka dam in the southwest of the island. It quickly spread to the Orkontas forest and was put under control in the evening. It was rekindled by night winds, destroying 3 sq.kms of state forest. The fire which was to be proved the most threatening and destructive one broke out on Tuesday morning next to Kalavassos dam, in the central part of the island. |
Engulfed Winds pushed it westwards into hilly and inaccessible terrain in the Larnaca district, where it raged out of control despite concentrated efforts. The villages of Kalavassos, tochni, Vavla and Layia were engulfed by smoke, as the flames raced towards them. There were dramatic scenes as the inhabitants of the latter two were told to prepare for the evacuation of their homes. The situation worsened the next day as the fire kept spreading westwards, even causing serious concern about the safety of the Machiras forest. The Kalavassos fire spread to the Limassol district, creating another menacing inferno near the villages of Vasa Kilaniou, Asgata, Monagroulli, Pareklisia and sanida. Extensive damage was caused to gardens and livestock. |
FIGHTING THE FLAMES: Another sortie against the blazing enemy. |
Many more fires appeared in green areas along the Nicosia-Limassol road, particularly near Choirokoitia and Kofinou. Big fires also broke out near the vallages of Tala and Kathikas in Pafos. In the latter case, it was established that the fire started from the village rubbish dump. Ayia Napa was also affected, with two hectares of wild vegetation destroyed. Another fire burnt five hectares of grazing land between Frenaros and Sotira. Arrested Yesterday the police arrested a 29-year-old builder on suspicion of starting a fire in the exclusive residential Kaloyiri area, near Yermasoyia, when he tried to burn materials on the construction site where he worked. The fire destroyed 4 hectars of wild vegetation and endangered private houses. More than 40 fires broke out in just three days. |
Is it another arson? Villagers fight a series of fires in Tala, Paphos June 2000 |
Our village, Tala, is situated on a hillside, 7km in northwest of Paphos. Beneath this picturesque and friendly village surface lay troubles and worries of a typical small community, which used to help the villagers solve social problems amongst themselves and provide a crime-free environment. However, a blaze arose under a old garden tree near the village centre on Monday evening (12th June), after several similar cases during the preceding days, and extinguished with little damage leading to the news of the arrests of two teenagers that made us hope for the end of it all. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- An extraction from Cyprus Mail (14/06/2000) In the Paphos village of Tala, meanwhile, police have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of arson in a series of fires which endangered homes over the past week. The 13 and 16-year-old are being held in custody. Police said the two boys admitted that they had done it as a joke. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nevertheless at 2:00 am on Wednesday (14th June) we were awoken by a telephone call of fire alarm . We rushed out to the balcony only to see a lava-like burning field between our house and the village (1km). We could hear voices of villagers who were already there fighting flames together with a few fire engines to prevent further spreads of fire. At 3:30 am the fire seemed to have been extinguished leaving only some charred trees glowing in the darkness of an early hour of the morning. |
And much to our dread, in the mid-afternoon on the same day shot up the flames yet again, 200 metres in the east of our house - this time in strong wind and high temperatures of the heat wave at the time. (Pic.1) Although in a strong wind it seemed that the surrounding roads, especially the 10m-wide dirt track on the leeward, together with a couple of fire engines standing by were to prevent the spread of the fires. But no sooner it had become apparent that it had not been the case than the church bells rang indicating the emergency, the villagers rushed into the heat and smoke, farmers went to fetch their tractors and builders their bulldozers to fight the blazes. (Pic.2) Whle in the west to northwest sides slowly destroying carob and almond trees, the ravine which runs in the east to west by the village acted in the strong wind as a tunnel-like ventilator inciting the speed of the spread. The flames climbed up the cliff-sides like viper' tongues often higher than the roofs of the houses on the cliff top. (Pic.3) After numerous fruit trees, various old trees in the ravine that had been viewed and admired by many generations of villagers and many garden trees had been destroyed and many housed on the other side of the ravine - in the west and the southwest of the village - had been endangered, at the near-dusk hour it was announced that the fires were under control and extinguished. The fact that the houses are built with bricks and concrete was indeed a blessing element in this event. (Pic.4) |
Pic.1: Yet another fire arose 200m away from our house encouraged by a strong wind. |
Pic.2: Even a 10m-wide dirt track could not prevent the spread in that high wind. |
Pic.3: The ravine with the wind took a large part in inciting the speed of the spread of the fires. |
Pic.4: The blazes spreaded quickly endangering many houses sneeringly. |
May not be so co-ordinated or sophisticated like those trained professional fire fighters of some countries, indeed all the villagers fought - men, women, the old, the young and people from other villages with the courage and the willingness to fight the evil enemies that have ben fought by generations. They know only too well the danger and fearfulness of the fires on the exceedingly dry summer land of the island. (While my husband was helping a neighbour save her house from the surrounding blazes I stayed behind to watch our house, which was situated on the windway side. Nevertheless after Pic.4 I had to give up photographing as the wind changed its direction. It created new flame fronts - one of them approaching our house and its neighbouring houses. While using all the hoses we had with the help of passers-by, a bulldozer appeared from nowhere, cleared the bushes and undergrowth by the boundary walls, made certain of safety and vanished again to help elsewhere.) While Tala village was fighting the blazes on the west, the rest of the island was on more serious fires all over. Reported below. |
