Cyprus ready for wildfire season, says agriculture minister
Fact: The primary focus of the exercise was to assess the effectiveness of the national firefighting strategy ‘Hephaestus’ for large forest fire suppression.
firefighting capabilities
EU bolsters Cyprus’ firefighting capacity for warmer-than-average summer
The European Commission will provide Cyprus with two light aircraft to enhance its firefighting capabilities this summer due to the increased wildfire risks in the Southeastern Mediterranean region. The Air Tractor models will be leased by Cyprus, with costs covered by the EU through the RescEU mechanism. The aircraft will be available for deployment to other EU countries if necessary. RescEU activations have increased significantly in recent years, with Cyprus activating the mechanism eight times since 2016. Wildfires have affected 500 million hectares globally in 2023, with Greece, Spain, and Italy being the hardest hit. The focus this year is on strengthening firefighting personnel, with additional firefighters being sent to France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain for the third consecutive summer from various EU countries.
Cyprus boosts firefighting fleet with Jordanian helicopters
Cyprus currently has up to eight airborne firefighting means at its disposal, including two helicopters from Jordan.
Helicopters and firefighters arrive from Jordan
Two firefighting helicopters and 18 crew members arrived in Cyprus from Jordan to boost firefighting capabilities ahead of the summer. The crews will be “operationally ready” within 24 hours and there will always be at least one crew on standby with a response time of 30 minutes. Ground-level firefighting crews have been at full operational readiness since April 1.