Ten days following the deadly fire that ravaged the Limassol district, killing an elderly couple and unloading an unprecedented scale of destruction over more than 100 kilometres, authorities are no less closer to the causes, as questions raised over coordination, speed and effectiveness of services involved remain the focus of the investigation into the biggest natural disaster in the island’s history.
As of yesterday afternoon, President Christodoulides, who has committed to providing the public with definitive answers over why the fire run out of control for almost two days, is looking closely into four detailed action reports, submitted by the services involved in response-Police, the Fire Service, the Forestry Department and the Civil Defence.
He’s also promised to make reports public for the sake of transparency. The operation write ups were handed to competent ministers and as Philenews sources say, there has been an initial discussion over facts, arguments and conclusions.
The action reports provide a minute to minute description of the tragic events as they unfolded on the ground in real time and outline the mistakes, omissions and response weaknesses that were recorded at the time and post-op. Many of these weaknesses are deemed to be systemic.
The Fire Service and Civil Defence are considered the most relevant in the context of the fire management investigation, as they had operational responsibility and control, the former in fire fighting decisions and the latter in informing and evacuating locals in affected communities. Forestry department and Police reports are not to be downgraded however.
Fire Chief Nikos Logginos recorded the action timeline starting from the first phone call that reached the service until crews arrived on scene, the request for aerial support, when it arrived, why a mobile coordination centre was not created earlier, as well as the reasons behind the fire service personnel decision not to assist in putting out blazes that destroyed hundreds of homes.
According to Philenews sources, Logginos also provides relevant data on aerial support, how many vehicles were used in the operation and when he asked for Forestry Department Assistance. The content of reports by the rest of the services involved move along the same content, recording timelines of actions relating to informing and evacuating residents.
What is clear is that the blatantly obvious and complete absence of coordination in getting people out of the fire zone almost led to a much more painful scale of human loss, as evacuees took roads randomly, including paths that should have been closed off by police forces. Post-op suggestions include the creation of a single machinery of crisis monitoring and coordination.
The President will now act on what he reads, with the possibility of instructing the Attorney General to launch an Investigative Committee or proceed with other decisions, depending on the suggestions made in the relevant reports.
At police level, the Limassol CID is looking into the causes of the deadly blaze, having already considered the scenario of a lone pyromaniac or a hunter’s dispute over territory as reported to authorities by locals. Testimony was taken from hunters and individuals that had previously been cited for lighting fires for a number of reasons were also interviewed. Such testimonies have not indicated any suspicious activity.
Dozens of people who passed through the Mallia community, where the fire broke out, were also questioned, as police is still no closer to the causes or how the tragic couple who were trying to escape the fire, were trapped in flames and died in their car. At the focus of this particular investigation was whether the victims were informed about the need to evacuate their country home and why the road they died on, had not been closed off.
