Fires decreased by 10 per cent in 2022

Fires in Cyprus decreased by more than ten per cent in 2022, the fire services reported on Thursday.

According to the data that they collected for 2022, there was a 12.62 per cent decrease in fires across the island.

The fire service responded to a total of 6,451 fires in the past year, while there was a decline noted in brush and forest fires, and an increase in urban fires.

Regarding brush fires, the fire service said that there was a decrease of 23 per cent in the last year, with firefighters responding to 3,445 in 2022, while in the previous year there were 4,474.

The increase in urban fires was 3.33 per cent in 2022, where there were a total of 3,006, when in the previous year the number was 2,909.

The fire services reported that in 2022, they responded to a total of 11,247 calls, which were either related to fires, special services, or fake claims.

According to the fire services, 90 per cent of the blazes were caused by people.

The service stated that April is the worst month for fires due to Easter bonfires (Lambdradjia).

They added that usually May is also a bad month, mainly due to the bad habit of farmers burning fields after harvesting.

The fire services said 2022 saw a significant reduction, however, and this was due to their prevention campaigns, informing the public with both television and radio appearances by the press representative.

According to the data, in 2022 the burnt area of countryside was reduced by 10.22 square kilometres in comparison to 2021.

The cost of the damages was significantly reduced for 2022 at €9,491,552. In 2021 there was a total loss amounting to €29,212,512.