Greece and Jordan help fight fire in Cyprus June 13, 2024

A firefighting helicopter carries a bucket as it puts out a fire that started in Psathi, western Cyprus, on June 12, 2024. (AFP)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Greece and Jordan help fight fire in Cyprus

Aircraft from Greece and Jordan were helping Cypriot authorities fight a large forest fire in the southwestern region of Paphos, believed to have been started by an illegal landfill, officials said Wednesday.

The fire broke out on Tuesday east of the village of Giolou, triggering a national emergency plan that led civil defense to evacuate five mountain villages at risk.

Officials said two air tractors from the Royal Jordanian Air Force and two planes from Greece were sent on Wednesday to fight the fire in the rugged terrain.

Fire department spokesman Adreas Kettis said later on Wednesday that the fire was dying down.

"The fire is diminishing now. The active front near the community of Polemi has been brought under control,” he wrote on X.

"Suppression crews are continuing with final extinguishment efforts and full containment. The risk of reignition remains present."

Nicosia had activated the European Union's fire assistance protocol to seek help in containing the fire.

The head of the fire department, Nicos Logginos, told state radio on Wednesday that seven aircraft, including two Canadair planes from Greece, are operating over the active fronts.

He said that due to the rugged terrain, ground forces were unable to reach the area.

More than 300 people, including fire crews, supported by excavators, were working to secure the perimeter of the fire.

Logginos said that the police have evidence that the fire started in an illegal landfill.

Some 48 people evacuated from the area of the fire were taken to hotels, local newspaper Kathimerini Cyprus reported.

The scale of the fire prompted President Nikos Christodoulides to return early from a Gaza aid summit in Jordan on Tuesday to visit the crisis control center.

During a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, he requested additional air support to fight the fire in Paphos.

Kettis said earlier that several houses suffered major damage or were destroyed, but the scale of the destruction has yet to be determined.

Residents complained that houses were destroyed due to the slow response to the start of the fire.

The community leader of Lemona village, Kyriakos Charalambous, told the Cyprus News Agency that it took “a long time” for the aerial firefighting units to arrive.

Forest fires occur frequently in Cyprus during the sweltering summer months on the island, which suffers from a severe lack of rainfall.

The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for Wednesday due to the extreme heat, with maximum temperatures expected to reach 41 degrees Celsius.

Cyprus recorded its hottest day of June last Friday when temperatures soared to an unprecedented 44 degrees Celsius, the department said.

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