Agriculture Minister Costas Kadis has expressed optimism that arsonists believed to be responsible for the huge fires that broke out Saturday in Limassol and Paphos districts will be brought before justice.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Saturday at the wind park Orites in Paphos and spread in a radius of 20 kilometers in the villages of Dora, Archimandrita and Mousere. It is believed that 20 to 50 fires broke out and the Forestry Department said they were maliciously set.
The Minister visited the areas yesterday and thanked all departments who worked tirelessly and spared no effort to put out the fires. He said that he cannot comprehend how a human would do such a thing adding that the Police continue efforts to find the arsonists.
Chief of the Forestry Department Charalambos Alexandrou said that the operation was one of the biggest ever adding that five kilometers of forests have burned.
During the operation 190 persons from the Forestry Department with 32 vehicles were deployed in the areas of the fires.
In addition 35 firefighters with 15 vehicles, 30 Civil Defense officers with 8 vehicles, 2 officers from the Hunting and Wildlife Service with 1 vehicle and 8 vehicles such as trucks and tank cars assisted in extinguishing the fires. Members of the Paphos District Administration, the Police, EMAK and volunteers also helped.
The authorities activated Ikaros scheme and a total of ten helicopters and aircrafts assisted the operation.