Newsroom
President Nikos Christodoulides met Monday with a team of U.S. investigators assisting in the probe of the deadly Limassol wildfire that killed two people and destroyed vast forest areas.
The 10-member delegation from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is in Cyprus at the president’s invitation to help determine the fire’s causes and evaluate the government’s response. The team, made up of arson investigators, forensic specialists and intelligence analysts, will present preliminary findings to Christodoulides before submitting a full report in mid-September.
Officials said the investigation is focusing on how the blaze started and spread, as well as on shortcomings in firefighting coordination, evacuations and inter-agency communication. The government has pledged to act on the findings, which will be made public.
The cooperation also opens the door to long-term training and knowledge-sharing between Cyprus and the U.S. in disaster management, with reforms expected in inter-agency coordination, emergency training and the creation of a national Civil Protection authority.
Cyprus, already a member of the European Civil Protection Mechanism, is also receiving EU technical support to strengthen crisis response structures.
