A fire near the Alassa dam in Limassol that came close to homes in nearby villages has been put partially under control, authorities said on Saturday morning.
Aerial firefighting operations resumed in the morning to extinguish the fire that broke out on Friday in an area between the villages of Apesia, Korfi and Paramytha in the Limassol district.
Forces on the ground were battling all night to bring the fire under control. Helicopters from Jordan are supporting the firefighting operations.
According to the fire department, around 2.5 to 3 square kilometres of dry grass and wild brush were burned.
The fire broke out on Friday shortly before 2.00 pm and threatened dozens of homes. The authorities evacuated some citizens for precautionary reasons.
Speaking to CyBC on Saturday, the Director of the Forestry Department, Charalambos Alexandrou said that the blaze had been brought under partial control.
Also commenting on social media, Fire Services Spokesman Andreas Kettis that ground forces are in the area, and wherever flare-ups occur they respond.
Three Jordanian helicopters have been operating since 10am to completely put out the fire accompanied by a helicopter of the Cyprus National Guard.
HTTPS:/CYPRUS-MAIL.COM/WP-CONTENT/UPLOADS/2023/08/FIRE2.JPGAccording to Kettis, Israeli aircraft will not be called in to help.
Another fire that broke out in Paphos district also on Friday was extinguished around midnight. It burnt an area of approximately 75 hectares.
Kettis said in a post on X – the platform formerly known as Twitter – that the causes of the fire are being investigated in coordination with the police.
Commenting, Government Spokesman Konstatinos Letymbiotis said that the assistance of aircraft from Jordan and the immediate response from Israel highlight the importance that a “Regional Forest Fire Fighting Centre” will have in terms of the immediate, timely and effective response to fires in the area.
The creation of this centre was discussed during President Nikos Christodoulides’ recent trip to Jordan.
“A regional centre based in Cyprus will make a decisive contribution to dealing with fires in an area which, due to the climate conditions, is at a high risk,” he said.
Letymbiotis also thanked the neighbouring countries for their help and response to dealing with the blaze.
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