By Elisavet Georgiou, 24news
This interview is part of the series “Six Shocking Firefighter Testimonies.” The series offers a glimpse into the lives of those on the front lines. Firefighters recount moments that left an indelible mark, from challenging rescues and tragedies involving children, to the massive explosion in Mari. Through their stories, readers gain insight into the risks, emotions, and human side of firefighting.
“When I saw the girl lying on the road, she looked so much like my daughter…”
Deputy Fire Chief Xenios Michael, duty shift officer in Limassol, has spent decades in the Fire Service. In this interview, he reflects on his first days at the academy, the most difficult operations, and the moments that left a lasting imprint on his life.
“I walked past her and barely held back my tears. She looked like she was sleeping; a girl asleep and looking at the sky. The injustice suffocates you,” he said.
“I never regretted it for a moment. If I could turn back time, I would choose it again. Now, as I near the end, I am moved. I see it as a calling.”
‘Limassol is a university’
Michael credits his years in Limassol with shaping him as a professional.
“Limassol was a university for a firefighter who wanted to learn the profession back then. It had many incidents,” he said.
He remembers his first day at the academy vividly. “Our instructor told us he guaranteed that until we retire, we would never encounter the same incident twice. No day will ever be the same. And indeed, that’s how it is.”
He later passed that lesson on to new firefighters. “Even if there is no incident, the training will be different. As soon as you walk through the door, you can’t compare days.”
Michael stresses the importance of knowledge and readiness. “A conscientious firefighter must, even in his free time, engage in training and learning. Half-knowledge is worse than ignorance.”
The girl who looked at the sky
Of the hundreds of calls he responded to, one car accident has never left him.
“It was the only incident that I couldn’t stop thinking about for six months,” he said. “When I saw the girl lying on the road, she looked so much like my daughter. I walked past her and barely held back my tears. She looked like she was sleeping, looking at the sky. The injustice suffocates you.”
The image left him shaken. “I was paralyzed. For a while, I didn’t know if I could help. I felt enormous pressure. It took me five minutes to get over the shock so I could continue. I thought of a parent waiting for their child at home, the way we all wait for our children.”
The experience haunted him. “My wife realized something was wrong. She kept asking, and at some point, I broke down crying. I needed it to release the tension. For six months, I couldn’t sleep.” Years later, he sought help from a psychologist.
Other moments that stayed with him
Michael recalls another incident involving a child. “A little boy had an accident with his bicycle. He was crying and calling for his grandmother: ‘Grandma, help me!’ It was heartbreaking. We wanted to cry with him.”
But as an officer, he knew he had to remain strong. “Especially when you’re a supervisor, you have young firefighters who depend on you. You have to grit your teeth and steel your heart.”
The wildfire in the mountains
Michael also remembers the devastating wildfire in the mountain villages of Limassol.
“It wasn’t a fire, it was a natural disaster,” he said. “The winds didn’t keep a direction. They kept changing,and, in a short time, they were burning three points of the horizon.”
He described the hours in Lofou. “Three houses in the core of the village burned. We fought for hours. When it was over, the exhaustion was such that I collapsed on the steering wheel. I slept for the first time in days. A couple came knocking on my doors because they were worried something had happened to me.”
What kept him going, he said, was the people’s gratitude. “They called me, they sent me messages to say thank you. That satisfied me, moved me. I realized there are people who appreciate it.”
A life choice he would make again
Michael says all these stories, the tragic, the difficult, and the moments of recognition, shape a firefighter’s identity.
“If I could turn back time, I would make the same choice again,” he said.
