Firefighting exercise Hephestus 2022, part of Forest Protection week, took place on Friday and aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of the state’s entire forest firefighting system.
The exercise included a response scenario to an uncontrollable and raging forest fire around Macheras mountains, involved the activation of ‘Ikaros 2’ plan and the engagement of the Republic’s aerial firefighting means in their entirety, including among others, the forestry department, the fire brigade, civil defence, the national guard, the search and rescue coordination centre as well as two Israeli firefighting aircrafts.
“Hephestus 2022 gives the opportunity to verify the operational readiness of the services and agencies involved and tasked with responding to real incidents of forest fires,” said Agriculture Minister Kostas Kadis addressing the attendees.
Read more at the Cyprus Times
