Fire In The Hills.

[WHL]

Not the Hunters fault, listening to local radio today, it seems arsonists are on the prowl for whatever reason.

[trevnhil]

I wonder what possible reason they may have ??

[Dominic]

The media say all the fires were in places of zero accessibility and that no buildings were damaged. They obviously didn't see the fire I filmed.

[lotus]

No mention of the firefighters on the ground who did a fantastic job as usual in terrible conditions,good on them!

[Steve - SJD]

Authorities investigate large number of rural fires in Paphos

Authorities are investigating 12 fires that broke out almost simultaneously in remote areas in the
Paphos district on Sunday, with preliminary findings suggesting that these were not coincidental but
deliberate, fire services spokesman Andreas Kettis told the state broadcaster on Monday... [Read More]

Cheers

Steve

[Kili01]

Cyprus needs 2 to 3 large helicopters based here. These would be a sizable financial outlay both to buy them and to maintain them properly. Also it needs pilots who have to be very experienced with flying them and possibly have had previous crop spraying experience.
But its potentially dangerous work, and to be able to fly fire fighting missions in hilly or mountainous terrain at night has very obviously increased dangers. Another complication is the amount of smoke which decreases the visibility and increases the risk of flying into the sides of surrounding high ground where most of these fires are.
Every way you look at it this is a very expensive though very necessary to have fire protection helicopters based in Paphos.

Dee

[WHL]

I always wondered why the EU dosnt get together and have a fire fighting team, , you could have firefighting planes based in say southern Italy, they would be ready to go, and would be over most med countries in a few hours, the cost would be split between member countries, with the countries needing the service paying a bit more.

[Steve - SJD]

I always wondered why the EU dosnt get together and have a fire fighting team, , you could have firefighting planes based in say southern Italy, they would be ready to go, and would be over most med countries in a few hours, the cost would be split between member countries, with the countries needing the service paying a bit more.

Here's what the EU have in place at the moment Forest fires.

Cheers

Steve

[WHL]

I always wondered why the EU dosnt get together and have a fire fighting team, , you could have firefighting planes based in say southern Italy, they would be ready to go, and would be over most med countries in a few hours, the cost would be split between member countries, with the countries needing the service paying a bit more.

Here's what the EU have in place at the moment Forest fires.

Cheers

Steve

Wow thank you so much for that, I had no idea this was already in operation.great news.

[Steve - SJD]

More can and still needs to be done but things are improving and Cyprus
has recently received the first disbursement from the EU Recovery and Resilience
Facility (RRF) and part of that initial €157 million funding is:

"€19 million to upgrade the country's capacity to combat with fire hazards:
purchasing of firefighting aircraft, vehicles, equipment and providing related training."

Cheers

Steve

[Kili01]

Well that's very encouraging news! But whether Cyprus will actually be able to buy any helicopters is something else. Also they must be willing to pay pilots from whichever country they get them a decent salary and probably overtime when required.
The problem with contracting pilots to work here is that they must be paid their agreed wages on time! In the past stories have appeared in the Cyprus Mail of this not happening. As also was reported recently, when apparently the Russian pilots refused to work last week end before their contract had actually finished.
Dee

[WHL]

Well that's very encouraging news! But whether Cyprus will actually be able to buy any helicopters is something else. Also they must be willing to pay pilots from whichever country they get them a decent salary and probably overtime when required.
The problem with contracting pilots to work here is that they must be paid their agreed wages on time! In the past stories have appeared in the Cyprus Mail of this not happening. As also was reported recently, when apparently the Russian pilots refused to work last week end before their contract had actually finished.
Dee

Doom and Gloom, there's a surprise

[Kili01]

Whether you like it or not, these facts get reported in the newspaper.
If Cyprus wants good protection from the effects of fires in the countryside, it is only fair to pay the pilots well for this essential service...
Fortunately, there are also the skilled pilots of the RAF helicopter squadron at Akrotiri,
but Paphos is quite a long way for them, Anyway, their primary task is to provide air sea rescue for any downed military aircraft. Though they often help, out the Cypriot authorities when requested to.


Dee

[Steve - SJD]

Whether you like it or not, these facts get reported in the newspaper.
If Cyprus wants good protection from the effects of fires in the countryside, it is only fair to pay the pilots well for this essential service...

Am not sure how big an issue it is/was or whether it was a one off occurence - though the significant recent extra funding will help.

Also to be fair Cyprus at the time was offering €11,500 per month for the pilots and other options were being explored.

Cheers

Steve

[WHL]

Whether you like it or not, these facts get reported in the newspaper.
If Cyprus wants good protection from the effects of fires in the countryside, it is only fair to pay the pilots well for this essential service...
Fortunately, there are also the skilled pilots of the RAF helicopter squadron at Akrotiri,
but Paphos is quite a long way for them, Anyway, their primary task is to provide air sea rescue for any downed military aircraft. Though they often help, out the Cypriot authorities when requested to.


Dee

It doesn't matter whether I like it or not,
Doom and gloom is the way to go,
Yes I agree with you 100% , thank God we have the skilled pilots of the RAF, compared to the unskilled Cypriot pilots.... .