NICOSIA, Cyprus — An angry Cypriot defense minister on Monday ordered an investigation into why National Guard engineers ignored regulations and blew up discarded ammunition that ended up sparking a fast-moving brush fire.
Defense Minister Vassilis Palmas expressed “intense dissatisfaction and strong irritation” that an engineering battalion destroyed a half dozen rocket-propelled grenade projectiles at the Kalo Chorio firing range on the island’s southern coast — in the middle of the summer fire season.
Palmas said he ordered the probe to get to the bottom of why the rounds were detonated “under these conditions of 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) even as such explosions of heavy weaponry during the summer months are prohibited.”
“You understand that I will act with all the severity that is provided for under such circumstances,” Palmas told reporters.
Some 100 firefighters assisted by eight aircraft placed the fire under control after it scorched about 120 hectares (300 acres) of wild growth and prompted the precautionary evacuation of two small communities near the fire front. No homes or other property were damaged.
Palmas said there are clear protocols about when and how such weapons disposal can take place and that the engineers battalion “logically” would’ve been in contact with National Guard Command before going ahead. The purpose of the probe is to determine exactly how this transpired, Palmas said, adding that a report should be ready in the next couple of weeks.
Arid winters and scorching summers in recent years have created tinderbox conditions on the east Mediterranean island nation. A year ago, Cyprus experienced one of its most devastating wildfires in recent memory that killed an elderly couple in their car as they were trying to flee the rapidly moving front along a mountain road.
A regional fire fighting hub has been set up on Cyprus that could also assist Middle East countries in battling major wildfires.
