THE FIRE service yesterday reported a 25 per cent increase in rural fires compared to a year ago, with more than 200 across the island in July fuelling concerns over rampant arson in the fields.
According to fire service spokeswoman Lisa Kemidji, the worst affected areas were in areas of scrubland near Paphos and Limassol, and the service believes that they are being deliberately targeted.
One square km of land has been destroyed and €4.1 million worth of damage sustained in fires so far this year.
In a statement yesterday, fire service deputy director Marcos Trangolas said that people are ultimately responsible for nearly all fires that occur in rural areas and in the case of recent fires, the evidence suggest that the people involved were acting maliciously.
Asked about this evidence, he said: “One thing is certain. Fires that occur in the countryside are never accidental but always due to human factors. (They) do not never ever start on their own.”
Trangolas’ statement echo’s Tuesday’s message by Interior Minister Neoclis Sylikiotis, after two fires destroyed 85 hectares of land in Vouni and Kilani and Lefkara on Saturday. He said: “It’s a little difficult for a fire to start on its own at night, especially where there are no works going on in the area.”
Sylikiotis said that all of the outbreaks on started on roads, allowing for the possibility of human negligence as well.
Trangolas urged members of the public to remain vigilant, reporting all suspicious activities immediately and to take care outdoor: “In view of the rise in fires that occurred in July in Paphos and Limassol in particular in high risk areas, the Fire Department urges the public to be alert and careful during outdoor activities and report immediately suspicious people moving.”
He added: “The chances are the fires have been caused by hostile acts.”
During the summer, high temperatures and winds mean that fires spread rapidly and are extremely difficult and time consuming for firefighters to extinguish.
At the same time, Trangolas said, the fires can cause irreparable ecological damage and in a matter of minutes destroy the products of decades of labour.
The Fire Department has reported 3,619 fires so far this year, of which 2,073 were rural. While this is less than the total of 3,614 fires in the same period in 2010 the number of rural fires is around 10 percent higher than in 2010, when 1,983 occurred.
In other words, there are 25.95 per cent more rural fires this year.
Of the 3,619 fire calls received so far for 2011, some 1,106 were in Nicosia, 1,071 in Limassol, 476 in the Larnaca district, 440 in Paphos, 379 in the Famagusta district and other 147 calls were from EMAK.
