Cyprus overhauls evacuation plans after deadly Limassol mountain fire
Civil Defence has updated its Polyvios evacuation schemes, handed out radios and begun live drills in communities, the interior minister says, nearly a year after the July 2025 blaze that killed two people.
Evacuation procedures across Cyprus have been reworked following the wildfire that tore through the western Limassol mountains, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou told parliament in a written reply reported by Cyprus Mail. The minister was answering a question from MP Odysseas Michaelides.
According to Ioannou, the Polyvios plan covering Souni-Zanatzia had been revised shortly before the disaster, yet no rehearsal was ever held. The document has since been rewritten for every community for 2026, with the Souni-Zanatzia version finished on March 10, 2026 and follow-up meetings held between Civil Defence staff and local authorities.
The July 23, 2025 fire killed two people, burned over 100 square kilometres and hit 15 communities. Recovery work carries a €63 million budget, while the Limassol district administration (EOA) has put €10,000 into clearing and maintaining roads in Souni-Zanatzia.
What it means for residents
For anyone living in or near the pine-covered villages above Limassol, the practical value of these changes will show up on the day a fire starts, not in the paperwork. The new radios and alert apps matter only if households know how to react when they sound.
- Know your village plan. Polyvios documents now exist for every community — ask your local council where yours is and which route you are meant to take.
- Install the alerts. SAFE-CY and CY-ALERT are meant to push warnings straight to phones; signing up costs nothing and takes minutes.
- Expect drills. Exercises have already run in Limnati and Fini, with more planned across the district, so road closures and test messages are likely.
This text is written from the source article and is not a translation of it.
