New Paphos fire ‘manageable’, residents sent home

A fire that broke out just before midnight on Thursday in Paphos, between Kelokedara and Trachypedoula villages, is “manageable”, with residents saying last night was “nightmarish”.

At 1am Trachypedoula, about 20km from Pissouri, was evacuated and the residents, assisted by civil defence, were taken to the village square for safety. They later returned home.

At 5.30am the Ikaros II plan was activated with seven aircraft – five airtractor planes and two Jordanian helicopters – and a National Guard coordination centre. A British bases helicopter and two Egyptian ones are expected to join the effort on Friday.

Fire department spokesman Andreas Kettis has said in a post on X that the fire has been contained and efforts on the ground and by air are being made to extinguish it completely.

The fire has burnt about one square kilometre.

Paphos police are looking into the causes of the fire.

Deputy head of operations Michalis Nicolaou told the press the police were notified at 11.46pm that a fire had started in Paoura area, south of Kelokedara, and was moving towards Trachypedoula.

The fire was contained with the help of the fire and forestry departments, as well as private means.

Trachypedoula community leader Constantinos Fereos told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) that the residents lived a “nightmarish night”.

Fereos said that, while the fire was initially moving fast towards Trachypedoula, the wind changed and pushed it back.