SIGN NOW – THEY BURNED US, DON'T LET THEM DO IT AGAIN

🛑 LIFE REQUEST: WE WERE BURNED – DON’T LET THEM DO IT AGAIN

Protect our mountains, our people, our nature

In the summer of 2025, the mountainous Limassol region was reduced to ashes.

Burnt houses. Burnt animals. Burnt trees. Burnt hope.

The disaster was no accident. It was foretold – and yet no one listened.

⚠️ Residents had been warning for years – and no one listened

The tragedy of 2025 was not just a natural disaster. It was the result of chronic indifference and criminal negligence.

The communities of Limassol Mountain, like other mountainous areas of Cyprus, had repeatedly pointed out – in writing, publicly and institutionally – the following:

Unclean and flammable vegetation around yards, roads and forest areas, which was never cleaned or removed in a timely manner.

Absence of evacuation plans and no preparedness exercises for residents.

Fire tanks neglected, empty or without operational controls.

Absence of fire protection posts at key surveillance points, which would allow for the timely detection of smoke or fire.

Damaged or non-existent fire shelters, for which European funds had been provided through the Ministry of Agriculture – funds that were not properly utilized.

Understaffing of fire services, with exhausted firefighters, without adequate equipment or backup shifts.

Few local fire stations, with long distances and delays in intervention. The creation of new stations has been requested many times, with the aim of each large village having its own fire brigade and each group of 2-3 small communities being effectively covered.

Absence of prevention technology, such as:

Smoke detection camera system in key points of each village and especially in Troodos, connected to a control and immediate intervention center.

Preventive patrols by aerial vehicles, which can fly during the night with high capacity and with the ability to record hot spots and increased risk.

Large-capacity aerial firefighting equipment, permanently stationed in Cyprus and with knowledge of the local geomorphology, available 24 hours a day for preventive and immediate action – not arriving late and without a flight plan and disappearing at daybreak and leaving the fires to rage through the night.

All these documented deficiencies had been pointed out — in memoranda, letters, and public statements.

And yet, the state chose to remain silent. Negligence turned to ashes. And ashes, guilt.

These tragic shortcomings do not only concern the Limassol Mountains, but every mountain community in Cyprus, the lives and forests of all of whom deserve equal protection.

And all this, while there are European funds available for fire protection, prevention, equipment and reforestation projects — which have not been sufficiently utilized.

The money is there.

The political will is missing.

🚑 Amid the flames, the health abandonment was also revealed

One ambulance for each mountainous municipality and dozens of villages.

No equipped medical unit capable of managing crises in mountainous areas.

No mobile health unit before or after the disaster.

No health instructions from the Ministry of Health.

No control over the effects of smoke, ash and toxic residues on residents.

People were left alone, without masks, without guidance, without medical support.

🌳 And when the flames die out, what remains?

Tens of thousands of burned trees – lungs of life, extinct.

Damaged flora and fauna – species that may never return.

Erosion, floods, landslides.

A dead ecosystem – without a recovery strategy.

📉 The cost of destruction vs the cost of prevention

The 2025 fires cost:

Human lives

Hundreds of millions of euros in damage to private and public property

Thousands of acres of burned forest that will take decades to regenerate

Loss of tourist income, agricultural production, local economic activity

Long-term health costs due to respiratory problems from inhaling toxic smoke

Social trauma and migration from villages

In contrast, the cost of prevention is many times lower:

Creation and maintenance of tanks and fire points

Camera and drone surveillance system

Volunteer training and evacuation plans

First aid stations:

Aerial firefighting equipment in collaboration with EU: subsidized up to 70% by European funds

The total cost of prevention for ALL of mountainous Cyprus is less than the cost of restoring ONE major fire.

✊ WE DEMAND – AND WE DEMAND IT NOW

🔥 REGARDING FIRES:

Immediate reinforcement and creation of new local fire stations in every large village.

Mandatory maintenance of tanks and fire nests.

Smoke surveillance posts at high points.

Evacuation exercises in every community.

Aerial firefighting 24/7, with full equipment.

Preventive aerial flights and early warning systems.

Immediate utilization of European funds.

🚑 ABOUT HEALTH:

Local first-line medical stations.

Ambulances and specialized personnel in every mountainous area.

Mobile health units for periods of crisis.

Free medical and respiratory checks for those affected.

Citizen training in first aid and psychological support.

🌱 ABOUT NATURE:

National reforestation plan, with the participation of scientists and local communities.

Biodiversity restoration and protected areas.

Tree planting programs by citizens, schools and organizations.

Transparent environmental restoration fund.

Information and environmental education campaigns.

❗ We do not ask for favors — we ask for prevention and equality

We are only remembered when the elections come.

When parliamentary or presidential elections approach, they remember the villages and the mountainous regions and the "forgotten communities", and the familiar "I will", "I will", "I will" begin.

Promises in front of cameras. Meetings without result. Visits-pilgrimages.

And then?

Silence. Forgotten. Alone again.

Well, not anymore.

We don't ask for favors.

We don't beg.

We don't want pity and "compassion" in front of the ashes.

We are not second-class citizens.

We don't need more words – we need prevention.

👉 How much more will we pay to collect ashes?

It's time to invest in prevention, life and the future – not in restoring negligence.

🖊️ SIGN NOW — WE WILL NOT FORGET

We will not forget the two people who perished in the flames. They were not numbers. They were parents, friends, neighbors – lives that could have been saved.

We will not forget the burned houses – the photos that turned to ashes, the memories that were lost forever, the families that were uprooted in a few minutes.

We do not forget the animals that ran in panic and burned alive, defenseless, abandoned. A silent massacre that no one tried to prevent.

We do not forget the forests that turned to charcoal, the thousands of tree figures that were extinguished – without any rescue effort, without a plan, without responsibility.

We do not forget our villages drowning in smoke and ash – without warning, without instructions, without help.

We do not forget the toxic air we breathed, the respiratory problems that have already appeared, the long-term health effects – and the complete absence of medical care from the state, which did not even bother to send clean-up crews or issue health instructions.

We do not forget the state indifference, the organized abandonment, the silence of the government and the Parliament, which do not stand by us. We do not forget the television footage without actions.

They burned us. They left us. They made us sick.

No.

We will not forget.

We will not be silent.

We will not let them do it again

👉 Sign today — because if we remain silent, they will burn us again. But if we unite our voices, no one will be able to ignore us again.