Sorry to the destructive fire in Limassol in Limassol was requested by the Chief of the Cyprus Fire Service, Nikos Longinos, while noting that the conditions were adverse and 13 communities had to be evacuated to “Don’t get what the eye happened.”

At the same time, he removed the responsibility of the President of the Republic of Cyprus and the Minister of Justice, saying that he himself decides which business plan should be followed.

Mr. Longinos, speaking in the morning on state television, said in detail, according to Cyprustimes: “We ask that we are forgiven if we could not respond to all incidents at the same time. The resources we had were not endless. We put priority down what each of our fellow citizens needed. If we were told that someone is a bastard we would prioritize. “

Reiterated that the fire started from arsonclarifying that This was not said as an excuse. “95% of fires are malicious or by human negligence. And this one had been maliciously caused. “

The day before, he still said, there was some preparationafter updating of extreme weather conditions.

“From the previous day I had been informed by the Department of Meteorology that the next would be difficult due to the high temperatures, the winds that would prevail, and especially at the point where the fire evolved. I had spoken to Limassol provincial to increase the panels for that day. At the same time I contacted the Commander of the Squadron of Violence and I begged the traits to constantly fly and not to stopbecause by 4-5 pm Patrols stop and continue until night. Something that happened. Unfortunately the fire started faster“

The Fire Brigade, he explained, faced that day a difficult fire in Nicosia. “Then the fire broke out in Limassol and based on the data I had, I realized that it would be difficult to evolve. But we didn’t expect it to reach these levels. Immediately I implemented the “Pyrsos” plan and in half an hour I decided that a business center had to be set up. I asked the Police Chief the Grand Center and started informing all the relevant services. Then we entered the plan “Icarus II”. I talked to the Minister of Justice, I told him that I was going to Limassol and informed me that he would hurry himself. The same thing happened with the Minister of Agriculture. It was an unprecedented experience, in the 35 years I have been in service, maybe the same managers tell you that we have never experienced a similar situation before. “

The relief of the area, Mr Longinos continued, make the extinguishing difficult. “Unfortunately the air was 6-7 beaufort with puffs. The president, who came there, had constant contact with the minister and at some point entered my car because he wanted to live the incident. He wanted to see and make appreciation. When he realized himself with ministers, We started coordinating the mechanism along with other European states‘.

However, Mr. Longinos emphasized, business decisions are made exclusively by him. “Today we have six volatile media while other states are expecting to answer them if we need extra help. I am the one who has to decide if needed. Also at my own discretion it is whether I will implement the “Pyrsos” or “Icarus” plan, as I have done. The minister or even the president cannot tell me whether I will apply the plan, it is at my own discretion. “

Finally, he noted that: “Each home was asking for help either because he was injured, because he was burning or even because some were not leaving. We had to evacuate safely. At some point, taking the route from Omonos to Limassol, a 17km distance was burned with strong winds. All these areas had to be evacuated so as not to get like the eye. I contacted the leader to send the traffic and to leave the queues of vehicles. “