The fire service will carry out inspections along the buffer zone to identify potential fire hazards and ensure that necessary clean-up works are carried out, fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis said on Friday.

“We have launched a campaign to inspect the buffer zone, just as we are doing in communities across Cyprus, to identify vulnerable areas and request the competent authorities to carry out the necessary clean-up operations, whether involving rubbish removal or vegetation clearance, so that homes and properties in the government-controlled areas are not threatened,” he said.

Kettis warned that fires breaking out in the north could spread southwards, posing a risk to homes and residents near the buffer zone.

His remarks come a day after a Greek Cypriot firefighter was arrested by the Turkish Cypriot police in the buffer zone of Pyla on Thursday.

The firefighter had reportedly entered the area accompanied by United Nations police officers to assess conditions ahead of planned clean-up works.

During the inspection, Turkish Cypriot authorities allegedly stopped the firefighter and the UN officers, detaining the former and taking him to Pergamos without issuing an official statement explaining the reasons for his detention.

The incident occurred within the UN-administered buffer zone, where access and operations are subject to specific arrangements coordinated by the UN peacekeeping force.