Six villages evacuated before fire brought under control)
TWELVE firemen were injured in a huge fire that caused the evacuation of six mountain villages in the Larnaca and Limassol districts as well as damage to a number of houses in the area.
According to the Fire Services, the blaze began just after 3am yesterday morning in the area between the Larnaca villages of Lagia and Ora as a result of a smaller fire in the region of Peristerokremmos that was re-ignited.
Among the injured fire fighters is the Deputy Fire Department Chief Charalambos Charalmbous, who is thought to have suffered a dislocated shoulder in an attempt to save a group of firemen from being engulfed in the flames.
Spokeswoman Liza Kemijee said that the officers were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation and minor burns, but only two were kept in for observation.
Due to scorching heat, and fanned by strong winds, the fire devastated an area of brush land between 10-15 square kilometres. With flames shooting up as high as 40 metres, according to witnesses, the fire wreaked havoc among the inhabitants of the six villages, many of whom were forced to leave their homes.
The villages affected by the blaze are those of Ora, Akapnou, Vasa, Kelaki, Sanida and Klonari. The worst hit were Ora and Akapanou.
Seven holiday homes went up in flames in the villages of Ora and Klonari, while the damage caused to the brush land and trees in the area is believed to be extensive.
“We cannot estimate the extent of the damage to our village, but this is a major tragedy,” the leader of Ora village community council said last night.
In an effort to combat the towering inferno that raged out of control as strong winds changed direction, the Fire Services used 96 fire engines, seven helicopters (two of them from the British Bases), one fire-fighting aeroplane and 320 firemen. Units from the National Guard, Civil Defence and the Forestry Department as well as many local residents assisted the Fire Services.
The government appealed for help from abroad and two fire-fighting airplanes arrived from Greece just before 7pm to aid with the efforts, while Israel and Lebanon said they were not in a position to assist at the moment.
The fire’s peak intensity was recorded just before 4pm, when flames surrounded the village of Akapnou causing the Fire Services to order the evacuation of the village.
By 7pm it was brought under control after the strong winds subsided. However Interior Minister Neoclis Silikiotis kept the Fire Services on standby throughout the night.
“Even though the fire has been brought under control it is important that units remain on hand in case it re-ignites,” he told state radio.
“This will be a difficult summer because of the drought and water shortage, and we all have to be very vigilant. Even the smallest spark can trigger a disaster,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
Last summer the island suffered one of the most devastating fires in its history, with some 12 kilometres of the Saittas forest and a number of homes destroyed.
