In just a few hours the deadly wildfire left four people dead and destroyed a huge “green lung” of the Limassol mountain areas, which continues to count its wounds and hopes to be reborn from its ashes.
The fire that raged in Arakapas on Saturday afternoon, left behind an untold tragedy with four dead, immeasurable ecological disaster, homeless families, burnt animals, buildings and vehicles, power and water supply problems and an immense sorrow. Cyprus News Agency visited the affected areas of mountainous Limassol, starting from Akapnou and then Arakapas and Eptagonia, and recorded what the wildfires left behind.
A depressing, frightening image emerges, through ashes, while in the air there’s still a smell of the burnt earth. Firefighting planes, helicopters and vehicles, which in the previous days were giving an unequal battle with the flames, are patrolling the affected areas, as small resurgences threaten to end what the catastrophic fire missed.
Forestry Department official, Loizos Konstantinou, told CNA that once the fire broke out, it was decided the implementation of the National Plan “Hephaestus” for forest fires. It was, an unprecedented situation for Cyprus, as he said, adding that the winds that were blowing caused the rapid spread of the fire.
“In a few hours (the fire) moved from Arakapa into eight communities and burnt about 55 square kilometres of wild vegetation and made the firefighting task very difficult, ” he said.
As he noted, during Saturday, when the strong winds were blowing, it was very difficult for them to approach, as well as for the aircraft. But during the night, after enormous efforts by their staff, they managed to put the fire under partial control, by the early hours of Sunday
“It was moving at a tremendous speed. It was probably the worst fire we had in Cyprus to date and for us it was an unprecedented experience. It was a hell of a fire. That is all we have to say,” he added.
As the Deputy Director of Limassol Civil Defence, Olivia Michaelidou, told CNA, they continue to be in close cooperation with the Commissioner for Civil Protection, but also the community authorities, for the provision of emergency items to those affected.
“At the same time, both in the morning and in afternoon, our teams are patrolling to detect any revivals of the fire, but mainly to make contact with residents of the local communities affected, so as to be able to make the appropriate arrangements to provide the necessary assistance in any need that will emerge,” she added.
The Presidents of the affected communities have a lot to say about the dramatic hours the spent.
The mayor of Akapnos, Haris Anastasiadis, told CNA that last Saturday was a tragic day.
“We saw the flames, we saw the wind, we saw the fire go out of control. We did not know what would happen,” said Anastasiadis.
He added that the fire started from the hills and then started moving down to the village. He noted that arable lands, greenhouses, houses, agricultural warehouses were burnt, while there was no electricity and water supply. At the same time, he called on the government to support the farmers financially, pointing out that a farmer told him that he had a damage of 100 thousand euros.
In the square of the community of Arakapa, which has been turned into a large social grocery store, we find the president of community, Vassos Vassiliou, who coordinates the efforts.
“We are experiencing a tragedy, but we must rediscover our courage, revive it and start regenerating our village. This is how we have to do it” he said and added that the first concern is the survival of the villagers, until Arakapa returns to its previous condition. He expressed the hope that within the day the community will be able to get electricity and be supplied with water.
Deeply moved, the Community President of Eptagonia, Panagiotis Tsolakis, thanked all people who responded to their needs and described the dramatic moments that the community experienced.
As he said on Saturday the wind was so strong that in record time there were so many outbreaks of the fire that no one could control them. He also said that by the time the fire trucks, that were late because they tried to put out the fire in another village, arrived it was too late, as the fire had spread to many places.
The Deputy Director of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) in the Limassol District, Thassos Theodosiou, told CNA that a very big effort to restore power has started and is continuing, because of the extent of the damage. In particular, as he said, about 350 electricity poles have been burnt, as well as 15 aerial transformers, while their number is expected to increase as patrols continue to assess the damages.
The deadly fire on Saturday left Cyprus wounded. The island is called once again to gather the pieces and find the courage to rebuild what was demolished and to regenerate what the blaze killed. The moving response of the people, once again highlighted the values of solidarity and charity of the people of Cyprus creating optimism for success.