A TOTAL of 22 fires, started by a combination of arson and carelessness, caused widespread damage to fields, houses and other buildings islandwide yesterday and on Thursday night.
Eight fires broke out in the Limassol area alone from midday onwards. All of them were a result of carelessness, the fire department said. Seven of them were brought under control by the evening while the eighth was under partial control. Fire fighters remained in the area to make sure none of them reignited.
A 76-year-old man was arrested for starting the most serious fire by burning weeds in the village of Avdimou. The fire spread quickly to the outskirts of the village due to strong winds in the area, burning one and a half square kilometres of vegetationendangering livestock farms, with one farm having to be evacuated.
A fire in Asgata ravaged one square kilometre of dry grass, vegetation, olive and pine trees, reaching a few kilometres outside the village. Fires also broke out in Kivides, Palodia and Prastio.
Various fire trucks from a wide range of government departments and helicopters and two aircraft from the forestry department were needed to battle the flames and bring the fires under control.
A fire in the fenced off part of Famagusta, Varosha burned 100 acres of land including houses on Thursday evening.
According to Turkish Cypriot paper Kibris, the fire started at around 5pm, and took three hours to bring under control.
Reports suggest the fire started in the fenced off part of Varosha near Dherynia which quickly spread due to strong winds. The source of the fire is believed to be wild shrubs though how they caught fire remains unknown.
Firefighters in the north attempted to put out the fire with the help of bulldozers, ten water tankers, and seven fire trucks. The same article said announcements were made from mosques, urging people to help.
According to the paper Yeni Duzen, journalists were prohibited from entering the fenced off town.
In Strovolos, fire destroyed a Pissarides toy store basement used for storage late on Thursday night.
The fire which started at around 6pm, when the store was still open, took four hours to bring under control. The department store, on Tseri Avenue in the Strovolos suburb of Nicosia, sustained extensive damage.
According to Fire Service chief Andreas Nicolaou, the fire’s source was located to a pile of plastic chairs and paper packaging on the ramp leading to the store’s basement. It then expanded through a window in the basement, used as a storage space.
The cause of fire has yet to be established though Fire Service spokesman Leonidas Leonidou said foul play was not involved. The possibility that it started from a cigarette butt, however, has not been ruled out.
“There are over 100 basements in Strovolos, which have been illegally transformed from car parks to storage spaces,” said Strovolos Mayor Savvas Eliofotou.
A hairdresser’s shop was the target of arsonists yesterday after the ground floor shop in Strovolos caught fire at 3.35am yesterday.
Two fire trucks arrived immediately and within ten minutes contained the fire in Archipiskopou Kyprianou Street.
“According to the evidence and data, and the information gathered, the fire was due to arson,” said a statement from the Fire Department.
Around €6,000 worth of damage was incurred.
