TUESDAY’S big fire, which at one stage threatened the disused Nicosia airport, started in the Turkish occupied areas, the fire service said yesterday.
Fire Service Chief Giorgos Hadjigeorgiou told the Cyprus Mail that according to his information the blaze started in the occupied areas near the villages of Skylloura and Ayios Vassilios north west of Nicosia.
Turkish troops manning ceasefire-line posts have occasionally been known to set fire to wild scrub to clear the area in order to have an unobstructed view of their sector.
The blaze started at 6pm and was brought under control three hours later with engines remaining on the scene throughout the night to prevent it from re-igniting.
The main problem were the strong winds, which fanned the fire that raged towards the Nicosia airport.
“The battle was fought at the airport,” Hadjigeorgiou said.
He added: “We managed to stop the fire on the outskirts or else, if it had reached the airport then it would have been very difficult.”
Putting out the blaze had been a collective effort, according to Hadgigeorgiou, who reserved special praise for the area’s residents who scrambled with tractors and bulldozers.
“It was a collective effort of the fire service, United Nations personnel, forestry department, civil defence and game department, and I want to stress the help we received from the area’s residents, who used tractors and bulldozers to create fire-breaks,” Hadgigeorgiou said.
“I am very happy for their selfless contribution,” he added.
At the same time, Turkish Cypriots on the other side of the cease-fire line were fighting to save their homes from the flames.
According to Hadgigeorgiou, the fire reached the first houses in occupied Yerolakkos village.
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.
