A THERMAL camera detection system is to be installed in the Akamas Peninsula to monitor the area for fires on a 24-hour basis.
The system, funded by the European Union, is expected to be installed by 2003.
Forestry Department Chief Aristidis Ioannou told the Sunday Mail that the cameras will shorten fire response time by up to five minutes.
“The cameras will be an early warning system, able to detect heat changes in their respective areas,” Ioannou said.
“If fire breaks out, a signal will be transmitted to a central system in Drousia, which will be monitored by members of the Forestry Department.”
The system will have four cameras covering an area of 10 square kilometres.
“Three cameras will be installed in the southern part of Akamas, towards Lara and Ayios Georgios, and one camera at Elyssos will monitor the northern part,” Ioannou said.
The Forestry Department Chief said that until the system is installed, his department will be taking special measures this summer to prevent fires in the peninsula.
“We have already upgraded fire department personnel and placed fire points in different areas,” Ioannou said.
“Proposals have been submitted for the construction of several kilometres of fire lanes, as well as the construction of water tanks and surveillance posts at key points so that any sign of fire will be spotted immediately.”
Ioannou said the department’s current fire response time is less than ten minutes.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
