Engineers assess fire damage

By Andrew Adamides

STRUCTURAL engineers were yesterday assessing damage to buildings in the fire-ravaged village of Paramali to decide how many were safe for occupation.

British Bases spokesman Captain Jon Brown told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the assessments would go on for some time, and that no-one would be moving back to the area for several days.

Before the families’ return, the buildings will also be viewed by an insurance assessor, who was due to arrive from the UK yesterday.

Those evacuated from the village are still staying with friends, in hotels, or at the Akrotiri officers’ mess.

The fire, which began at around 1pm on Monday, has caused £2 million worth of damage to property on the base. Fourteen homes have been completely burnt-out. Vehicles and utilities were also destroyed, while other buildings were damaged by fire and smoke.

The fire has now been completely extinguished.

Brown said that with the bases still preoccupied with the immediate aftermath of the fire, no thought had yet been given to the future of Air House, the residence of Major General Angus Ramsay, which was among the houses gutted by the fire.

Major General Ramsay, Commander of the British Forces in Cyprus, is currently staying in accommodation on the base.

No military equipment was damaged by the fire, although three British soldiers involved in fighting it were treated for smoke inhalation, and a fourth for heat stress. In all, 600 soldiers, airmen and local fire- fighters were involved in fighting the blaze.

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.