A total of eight communities were evacuated due to the large fire that broke out in the afternoon in Limassol and mountainous Larnaca.
In statements, Olivia Michailidou, Deputy Director of Civil Defense of Limassol, stated that “since noon we were informed by the Fire Service about the occurrence of a large fire in Arakapas. We immediately sent the forces of the province of Limassol to strengthen the firefighting work “, he said and noted that” as it seemed the fire was out of control for that and the Arakapa Community should be evacuated immediately “.
He added that “then it became clear that the surrounding Communities had to be evacuated and our forces focused on evacuating seven other Communities. However, the situation was so difficult that it led to the mobilization of forces from all provinces, while at the same time the local Control Center operated in conjunction with the mobile Business Control Center “.
Answering a relevant question, Ms. Michailidou said that “the evacuation was done from house to house. “It was really difficult because it is not easy for someone to leave their home, their shelter and their property.”
In a journalist remark that there were residents who refused to leave their homes, Olivia Michailidou said “for sure, because the priority for them was to safeguard their property. But for us – and we appeal to everyone – because human life is paramount, we must, if instructions are given by the competent Services to evacuate, they must make the difficult decision to close doors and windows, to get keys and move away from their endangered homes. “
Regarding the issue of the victims, he stated that “we are in contact with all the Commonwealths, we offer hospitality to people who need to be temporarily out of their homes as well as food. “We are on alert if we need to evacuate other areas at any time and in general any other assistance we need to give to the residents, who are currently in a difficult position to be away from home.”
When asked if there are injured and homeless Ms. Michailidou replied that “so far fortunately we have not mourned victims, we do not have any injured and we wish this case to end without any human losses.”
To another question whether the Pharmaceutical Community will be evacuated, he replied that “at the moment no. Of course, we are ready if necessary, now priority is given to extinguishing the existing fires and depending on how the situation will develop, we are ready to help “.
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