Fire which threatened Pachna homes under control (Update 3)

A fire that broke out in Pachna area in Limassol threatened at least three houses, and burned around 50 hectares of dry grass and wild vegetation, the fire service said on Monday.

The fire, which had started in dry grass and wild vegetation around 10am between Ayios Ambrosios and Pachna village, was put under control by 2pm.

Fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis said the service made a “great effort” to contain the fire.

Some eight aircraft and a large number of fire engines from the fire department, forestry department, civil defence, game and wildlife fund joined efforts to extinguish the fire, Kettis tweeted.

According to Kettis, the northern front of the fire was out of control until around 1pm.

Despite an initial warning to evacuate houses, Kettis said that evacuation was prevented, as firefighters managed to prevent the fire from spreading to at least three houses which were in immediate danger.

The service had put in force the Ikaros fire-fighting plan which increased the aerial resources from four to eight.

Fire fighting forces remain in the area for complete extinction of the fire and to look out for any resurgence, Kettis said.