Firefighters to remain near Kalo Chorio overnight to manage flareups

Firefighters will remain in the area surrounding the military firing range near the Larnaca district village of Kalo Chorio overnight on Monday and into the early hours of Tuesday morning to deal with possible flareups, chief fire officer Nikos Longinos said. He said the fire brigade had been on the scene within seven minutes of being informed of the fire at 12.27pm, and that aircraft operating in the area were also “immediately informed”. Additionally, he said that the civil defence was called upon to aid in the evacuations of the nearby villages of Ayia Anna and Psevdas, while “instructions were given through the CYAlert system to inform people”, though Ayia Anna mukhtar Anastasis Georgiou had earlier complained that the CYAlert emergency warning was not received by villagers until 5.20pm. Regarding the fire itself, he said that tackling it was “not easy, due to the intensity of the winds and the morphology of the terrain”, and disclosed that a “minor civilian injury” was recorded as a result of the fire. He added that it is “clear” that the fire broke out at the firing range, but that for now, he does not wish to expand on the issue. “Statements have been made by the defence minister on the matter, so I will remain committed to speaking about our own actions, along with those of the other competent services,” he said. He said that once the fire had reached the perimeter of the firing range, windspeeds had heightened, and that this, in addition to the existence of “vegetation” nearby, makes it “very easy for a fire to start and for a front to open up”. On the matter of aerial means used to tame the fire, he said that “helicopters were operating in the difficult areas”, and that aircraft were deploying retardant “in front of the fire … so that it would not have an uncontrolled course towards populated areas”. He also called on the public to “be extremely careful” going forward, because “you see that a spark can cause a great disaster”, before adding that the coming days may be “particularly difficult due to the high temperatures and strong winds”. Defence Minister Vasilis Palmas had earlier said that he had “already ordered an investigation to establish the exact circumstances around which this specific situation developed”. “At the same time, I must say that those responsible have names and surnames, and the responsibility lies with the 70th engineers’ battalion,” he said. “Expect developments on this issue within days,” he said, before adding that the 70th engineers’ battalion should have consulted those higher than it in the chain of command before launching live weaponry.