A major wildfire in the Limassol State Forest yesterday exposed a critical shortage of aerial firefighting resources.
The fire, caused by improperly disarmed fireworks during a quarry disposal process, forced ground crews to bear the brunt of the firefighting efforts.
The Republic of Cyprus currently possesses only one of its eight expected primary aerial assets, with reinforcements not anticipated until June.
Administrative investigations have been launched to determine the cause of the fire and the responsibility for the lack of aerial resources.
Minister of Agriculture Maria Panayiotou acknowledged the weakness in aerial capabilities, stating, “This year’s tenders for the rental of aerial assets were not fruitful. In previous years we had them in May, however, at this moment, it seems that we’ll have the additional aircraft in June.”
She emphasised the government’s decision to buy ten proprietary aerial assets for the first time, instead of renting them, as was done by previous administrations.
Initial firefighting efforts involved one aircraft from the Department of Forests, later joined by helicopters from the police and British Bases.
The Department of Forests currently has only one of the two aircraft it owns. The second is expected to arrive in Cyprus by July.
Currently, there are two tenders underway for the rental of four firefighting planes and two helicopters, and it is estimated that the procedures will be completed by early June. If the processes are successful, the Department of Forests will have eight primary aerial assets.
In addition, there is an ongoing tender that has been referred to the Tenders Review Authority for the long-term supply of three firefighting aircraft. It is noted that the British Bases can provide up to two helicopters.
As secondary aerial assets, two Police helicopters and two National Guard helicopters can be activated.
Additionally, under a bilateral agreement with Jordan, Cyprus can be supported if necessary with aerial firefighting resources. On high-risk days, assistance will be requested from Greece and Israel.
According to information, efforts to establish a permanent presence of aerial assets from neighbouring countries at the Andreas Papandreou Air Base have not been successful.
The issue of creating a European aerial firefighting base in Cyprus under the rescEU framework has been raised, but due to the Department of Forests’ mismanagement, this has not been achieved, philenews writes.
In 2021, Cyprus had at its disposal six primary aerial firefighting assets, and in 2022, this number increased to eight.
However, problems are observed every year, resulting in fewer available aerial assets in the first months when they are most needed by the Republic of Cyprus.
Today, the country relies on aerial assets from other countries in the event of a large wildfire, and it takes at least 48 hours for them to arrive in Cyprus and join the firefighting efforts.
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