Cyprus Wildfire - A Night To Remember
Discussion
We live 30km inland of Limassol, in a valley,halfway up Troodos.
At midday I could smell smoke, we've had our fair share of wild fires here, so I wasn't surprised to see a huge plume of smoke rolling over the mountain top on the other side of the valley.
By 2:00pm we could hear but not see firefighting planes, and fire engines.
By 4:00pm we could see flames on the mountain ridge opposite us.
At 6:00pm I was watching events unfold from our roof terrace, through a pair of binoculars, when the fire started to spread down the other side of the valley. I watched as a whole mountainside just combusted in an instant, it was truly terrifying, the whole mountainside was a wall of flames.
We gathered up all the important stuff we could think of and loaded it into the car, expecting to be told to evacuate.
Sure enough, as I was loading the car our local Mayor pulled up and said "Go Now".
The most upsetting thing for us was we couldn't find our two cats, one of whom is blind.
The wind was pushing the fire down the valley towards Limassol, so we headed north further up the valley.
We parked up and watched a nightmare unfold before us.
I've never seen anything like it, a giant cauldron of fire consuming everything.
There were fires raging everywhere, explosions, from what we assume were cars and gas cylinders, everything was engulfed in a raging inferno.
I think the fire service said the fire was out of control, they couldn’t fight it on so many fronts.
As the hours passed the flames started to diminish, the fire was burning itself out.
We eventually returned home just after midnight, unbelievably the fire had not jumped to our side of the valley and there were two cats, totally oblivious to the night's events, waiting to be fed.
As of 03:00am there were still tree stumps burning, a drone circling overhead and half a dozen fire engines sitting and waiting for flare ups.
I've never felt so empty as I did on that journey back, we were sure we'd come back to the charred remains of our home, but we were so, so lucky, there are so many people who have lost absolutely everything.
According to the article linked below, this was arson!
More details here:-
https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/07/24/two-dead-as-fir...
I understand that another fire has broken out this morning and is raging out of control NW of us.
At midday I could smell smoke, we've had our fair share of wild fires here, so I wasn't surprised to see a huge plume of smoke rolling over the mountain top on the other side of the valley.
By 2:00pm we could hear but not see firefighting planes, and fire engines.
By 4:00pm we could see flames on the mountain ridge opposite us.
At 6:00pm I was watching events unfold from our roof terrace, through a pair of binoculars, when the fire started to spread down the other side of the valley. I watched as a whole mountainside just combusted in an instant, it was truly terrifying, the whole mountainside was a wall of flames.
We gathered up all the important stuff we could think of and loaded it into the car, expecting to be told to evacuate.
Sure enough, as I was loading the car our local Mayor pulled up and said "Go Now".
The most upsetting thing for us was we couldn't find our two cats, one of whom is blind.
The wind was pushing the fire down the valley towards Limassol, so we headed north further up the valley.
We parked up and watched a nightmare unfold before us.
I've never seen anything like it, a giant cauldron of fire consuming everything.
There were fires raging everywhere, explosions, from what we assume were cars and gas cylinders, everything was engulfed in a raging inferno.
I think the fire service said the fire was out of control, they couldn’t fight it on so many fronts.
As the hours passed the flames started to diminish, the fire was burning itself out.
We eventually returned home just after midnight, unbelievably the fire had not jumped to our side of the valley and there were two cats, totally oblivious to the night's events, waiting to be fed.
As of 03:00am there were still tree stumps burning, a drone circling overhead and half a dozen fire engines sitting and waiting for flare ups.
I've never felt so empty as I did on that journey back, we were sure we'd come back to the charred remains of our home, but we were so, so lucky, there are so many people who have lost absolutely everything.
According to the article linked below, this was arson!
More details here:-
https://cyprus-mail.com/2025/07/24/two-dead-as-fir...
I understand that another fire has broken out this morning and is raging out of control NW of us.
Just back from a drive down the road.
The fire travelled a further 6km down the valley and jumped from one side to the other.
It's like a lunar landscape down there, all the trees and vegetation are gone.
Amazingly, I have only seen two properties damaged.
The air is still thick with smoke and ash.
We were so very lucky.
The fire travelled a further 6km down the valley and jumped from one side to the other.
It's like a lunar landscape down there, all the trees and vegetation are gone.
Amazingly, I have only seen two properties damaged.
The air is still thick with smoke and ash.
We were so very lucky.
Blimey, terrifying. Thanks for sharing.
I have a family member in Australia who got trapped by a wildfire when on a desert road trip. Luckily they got to a sandy area and it passed around them but the flames were still thundering over their heads. He said it was by far the most frightening thing he'd ever experienced. The rate fire can shift across the landscape is insane.
I have a family member in Australia who got trapped by a wildfire when on a desert road trip. Luckily they got to a sandy area and it passed around them but the flames were still thundering over their heads. He said it was by far the most frightening thing he'd ever experienced. The rate fire can shift across the landscape is insane.
There are two villages on the opposite side of the valley to us.
When we were watching last night we were convinced they would have been razed to the ground, from our vantage point they seemed to be at the epicentre of the blaze.
They both seem to be intact and suffered no damage as far as we can see, absolutely amazing as far as we are concerned.
They were both surrounded by a fire storm but they survived, truly remarkable.
Volunteers from our village were fighting the fire until 5:00am this morning, the same people are out again today firefighting in Omodos.
If it wasn't for these people putting their lives on the line things would be so much worse.
Eternal gratitude and free beers for them for the foreseeable future as far as we're concerned.
When we were watching last night we were convinced they would have been razed to the ground, from our vantage point they seemed to be at the epicentre of the blaze.
They both seem to be intact and suffered no damage as far as we can see, absolutely amazing as far as we are concerned.
They were both surrounded by a fire storm but they survived, truly remarkable.
Volunteers from our village were fighting the fire until 5:00am this morning, the same people are out again today firefighting in Omodos.
If it wasn't for these people putting their lives on the line things would be so much worse.
Eternal gratitude and free beers for them for the foreseeable future as far as we're concerned.
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