Flames lick close to homes

FIREFIGHTERS managed to contain a blaze that broke out yesterday next to the villages of Souni and Zanatzia in the nick of time before the flames engulfed residents’ homes.

The fire, which started shortly after noon, incinerated about a square kilometre of the lush pinewooded forest and wild shrubs.

The operation was conducted by the Fire Department and the Forestry Department, assisted by the SBA with helicopters in the air and fire tenders on the ground.

Strong winds that picked up during the early afternoon threatened to spread the fires, but by 7pm the blaze was under control. A few orchards in the area suffered minor damage. No injuries were reported.

Forces remained on standby last night in case of a flare-up.

Interior Minister Neoklis Silikiotis, who visited the site, said there were eyewitness accounts that the fire may have been caused by an SBA military exercise.

He has instructed the police to verify the allegations.

SBA spokesman Captain Nick Ulbert confirmed a training exercise did take place in the area, but said no live ammunition had been used.

The blank firing exercise involved the 2nd Battalion of the Lancashire Regiment, he added.

The area around Souni was ravaged by a massive fire last summer.

As the fire hazard increases with the onset of summer, authorities are advising the public to be extra careful and avoid singeing or throwing lit cigarettes.

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.