Wildfire evacuation plan review for Larnaca, Limassol almost done

The reviewing process of the “Polyvios” evacuation plans ahead of the upcoming wildfire season is in progress and will be completed by the end of April, the interior ministry told the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday.

“Civil Defence forces have been sent to the municipalities of all districts to review the plans,” the ministry said.

As per the ministry, the procedure has so far been completed in the municipalities in the Larnaca and Limassol district.

Meanwhile, the examination of the plans in the Nicosia and Paphos municipalities is ongoing, with 60 per cent and 45 per cent completion recorded respectively.

“The reviewing process will be concluded by the end of April,” it added.

The ministry said that the plans included a comprehensive description of evacuation orders such as common collection points, as well as directions in which individuals were to depart in case of an emergency.

The new evacuation plans follow last year’s deadly Limassol wildfires, in which an elderly couple was burned to death after fleeing their village in the wrong direction.

The far-reaching damage caused by the fires, along with the couple’s death, drew widespread criticism due to an alleged lack of clarity surrounding the evacuation plans.

Since then, Civil Defence forces have proceeded with a reevaluation of the evacuation plans, which included on-site visits and inspections, as well as coordination and discussions with community leaders with the aim of reassessing escape routes and assembly points.

According to Politis, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou had on Tuesday been briefed about progress in reviewing the plans.

In addition to the reevaluation of evacuation plans, the 2025 wildfires had stirred a debate over a lack of an early warning system.

Such a system would operate in a similar way to the 112 system, alerting members of the public to emergencies such as earthquakes or fires. However, this system has yet to be implemented.

Soon after the wildfires, the interior ministry issued a statement explaining why there was no early  warning system in place, amid complaints about the lack of accurate and prompt information, with many residents in affected areas reporting they had been left relying on word of mouth to protect themselves.

In its statement, the ministry explained that a tender for a Public Warning System (PWS), which falls under the responsibility of the Civil Defence, had been launched in 2022, but was eventually abandoned in May 2024 due to objections by some of the bidders.

The ministry said that after the first tender fell through, the Civil Defence filed a request to the attorney-general to investigate whether the process could be fast-tracked on grounds of public safety. The Law Office declined.

A second tender was then launched at the end of 2024, with a spring 2025 deadline for bidders and a scheduled completion date in early 2026.

“Unless objections are filed by that cutoff date, and unless the tender is cancelled, the contract for the project will be signed during the first ten days of September 2025, with a timetable for completion of the project by the first half of 2026,” the ministry said in July 2025.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail on Wednesday, the interior ministry confirmed that plans to complete the early warning system were progressing as scheduled with an expected launch date in June 2026.

According to news outlet Politis, the implementation of the system is currently being monitored jointly by the deputy ministry of research and the Civil Defence.

Politis said that the June launch of the system would be a pilot version but was expected to already be fully operational.

Citing a “well-informed source”, Politis wrote that certain issues could still exist in the pilot system and that these would need to be identified and corrected before an earthquake, wildfire or other disaster strikes.