Officials start counting the cost of Saturday’s fire (update 3, photos)

Three houses were destroyed and four damaged by the fire in Tala on Saturday, officials said on Sunday as estimates of damage began after instructions given by Interior Minister Nicos Nourris, Paphos District Officer Mary Lambrou said.

She said that one car was also destroyed by the flames.

The people living the destroyed homes have been temporarily taken to hotels, she added.

“Yesterday was an extremely difficult day on the fire front,” the interior ministry said in a statement, referring to the fire in Kamares as “catastrophic”.

It said the fire was put out as a result of “a coordinated effort by all the services of the Republic under adverse conditions due to the inaccessible soil and harsh weather conditions”.

A team of officers from the technical services of Paphos district office will record damages to buildings and property in the area based on the instructions given the interior ministry.

A similar evaluation is set to start from Monday to assess the damage to vegetation.

Leader of the Tala community council Areti Pieridou said she was thankful that “in this catastrophe we did not mourn human lives”.

In a written statement, Fire Service spokesman Andreas Kettis said the efforts of firemen on Saturday to put out the blaze were painful.

Assistant police chief of Paphos Nicos Tsapis said the fire was the result of a short circuit of aerial cables.

Preliminary examinations show that the fire started from sparks from electricity cables that fell to the ground. High winds in the area at the time caused the cables to touch each other.

The fire was brought under control at about 8pm on Saturday and burnt wild plants, damaging some vehicles and homes according to Kettis. He said that two square kilometres of plants and trees had burned, in addition to some wheat fields.

The fire also damaged electricity poles.

He said fire officials remained on site throughout the night to make sure the fire did not restart.

The fire broke out shortly before 3pm on Saturday afternoon and was brought under control with the help of seven aircraft from the forestry department and the government plus two from the British Bases in addition to fire engines from Paphos, Limassol and Larnaca.

With a yellow weather warning in place until 5pm on Sunday the chance of forest fires breaking out through the day is said to be high.