Civil Defence revises evacuation procedures after deadly Limassol wildfire

Limassol, Cyprus. Civil Defence has changed how evacuations are organised and coordinated following the catastrophic July 2025 wildfire in the Limassol mountains, Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said. The measures were outlined in his response to a parliamentary question from MP Odysseas Michaelides, released on Sunday.

Evacuation plans updated

Ioannou said the Polyvios evacuation plan for Souni-Zanatzia had been updated almost three months before the fire, but no test or exercise accompanied the update.

After the fire, Civil Defence began updating Polyvios for all communities for 2026. The Souni-Zanatzia update was completed on March 10, 2026, followed by meetings between Civil Defence officials and the community authority.

Fire damage and recovery funding

The wildfire on July 23, 2025, killed two people, burned more than 100 square kilometres of land and caused extensive damage across 15 communities in the western Limassol mountains.

The state’s response drew heavy criticism. An overall budget of €63 million was allocated for recovery measures following the fire.

Communications and emergency alerts

As part of the changes, Civil Defence provided portable radios to all Communities Cluster Presidents and the Office of the Mountains Commissioner.

Users received training in operating the equipment. Monthly communications checks were also established between the locations where the radios were installed and the Limassol Civil Defence headquarters to ensure the system’s operational reliability.

The SAFE-CY and CY-ALERT applications were put into operation to notify residents immediately during emergencies.

Civil Defence has also begun organising large evacuation exercises in communities across Cyprus.