Firefighters in Nicosia responded to two incidents on Thursday afternoon, one involving a fire emanating from oxygen tanks stored on a roof in the suburb of Strovolos and a second relating to a fire which broke out due to a faulty water cooler. 

The fire brigade said the first fire broke out around 2.30pm when the oxygen tanks on the roof of an apartment building caught fire. Three fire engines were dispatched and the building evacuated as a precaution.  

To extinguish the blaze, spokesman Andreas Kettis said on social media that the cylinders were cooled and sprayed and then inspected with a thermal imaging camera in accordance with operational procedures, and when it was deemed safe, they were handed over to a licenced company for management. 

A few hours later, the fire brigade responded to a call about a fire at a physiotherapy facility on the ground floor of a five-storey apartment building in the city. Three fire engines were dispatched. 

Kettis said the facility itself was slightly damaged and other areas of the building affected by smoke. The cause was an electrical fault, he said. 

A third fire on Thursday occurred when the washing machine in a hotel basement laundry room caught fire in Protaras. Two fire engines responded, Kettis said, but staff had already put out the blaze. Firefighters inspected the area and gave the all-clear.