Dozens of fires, six of which potentially carried significant risk in rural Pafos, affected many areas yesterday, raising the fire service alarm and causing its spokesperson to issue an appeal both to the state as well as the public to take preventive action ‘before its too late’.
According to a relevant statement by Andreas Kettis, the service responded to 63 incidents over the past 24 hours, including 47 fires.
‘Six potentially dangerous fires broke out in rural Paphos, with a further 41 across district and urban regions, including dry weeds and shrubbery, trees and illegal dumpsters’ Kettis noted.
The Fire Service points to the fact that it’s still mid-March and warns of the possible catastrophic consequences by the ‘time we reach the heart of summer’. They further note that human activity is behind every fire, with prevention a vital factor.
It calls on all state services to be vigilant at every level, District, Municipal, community and state administration, moving to clear out weeds from fields and other open spaces and stamp out on illegal dumpsters.
The public is called upon to refrain from any form of activity that might lead to fires, monitor their area and inform authorities of any irresponsible or suspicious action. The climate crisis, it is noted, makes matters worse and there’s no longer much room to act.
‘Prevention and not reaction is the key’ the fire service says and everyone needs to make a contribution to protecting the country.
