Cyprus Fire Service

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Cyprus Fire ServiceΠυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία Κύπρου
Pirosvestiki Ipiresia Kiprou
Kıbrıs İtfaiyesi

Fire Service overview
Formed| 1960 (1960)
Preceding Fire Service|

* Police Fire Brigade

Jurisdiction| Republic of Cyprus
Headquarters| Nicosia, Cyprus
Employees| 721
Child Fire Service|

* Ε.Μ.Α.Κ. Ειδική Μονάδα Αντιμετώπισης Καταστροφών

Website| www.fs.gov.cy
Footnotes
Emergency Telephone Number 112 or 199

The Cyprus Fire Service (Greek: Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία Κύπρου \- Firefighting Service of Cyrpus. Turkish: Kıbrıs İtfaiyesi) is the national firefighting service of Cyprus, with the principle task of undertaking of rescues from building rubble, the highlands, water bodies (sea, dams etc.), major traffic accidents, aviation accidents and fire disasters as well as firefighting on ships, aircraft, petroleum installations, buildings, rural areas, forest areas and chemical fires (HAZMAT)[1]

## History[edit]

The first form of organized fire brigade was formed in the 1920s, on a primitive basis for today's standards, by the Municipalities of the city of Nicosia and Limassol. Firefighting, among other tasks, was undertaken by volunteers and employees of the municipalities. At the same time, in Nicosia, the “Police Fire Brigade” was formed to the standards of other British colonies of the time, with Police Officers being organised into firefighting groups, depending on the circumstances and the time.

In 1935 with the reorganization of the Police, the “Police Fire Brigade” were organized on a firmer basis, introducing new vehicles, permanent staff that were serving as Police Special Constables and were specifically trained for the task. A fire station was built next to the Paphos Gate Police station, both of which exist at the same location today.
With the outbreak of the Second World War and the establishment of the British Department of Air Defence for the protection from air raids, firefighting teams were established in all cities. With the end of the war, fire stations were established in the towns of Limassol and Famagusta. Permanent Police Officers along with emergency personnel were manning the stations.

The Fire Service, in its present form, was launched in the mid-1950s, to meet the needs of the British that arose, due to the anti-colonial struggle of Cypriots and the developments in the Suez area. New Fire Stations were created in all cities with permanent staff. The legislation which is in force until today, the "Cyprus Fire Service" was formed within the organizational structure of the police.[2]

The Fire Service used to operate as an independent Division of Cyprus Police with its base in Nicosia. The Service provided national coverage since 1960. At 15/10/2021 the Cyprus Fire Service was established as an independent service and was separated from the organic structure of the Police.[3]

## Disaster Response Special Unit[edit]

34°49′49″N 33°23′35″E﻿ / ﻿34.830280°N 33.393060°E﻿ / 34.830280; 33.393060﻿ (EMAK)

Special Unit Dealing with CatastrophesΕ.Μ.Α.Κ. Ειδική Μονάδα Αντιμετώπισης Καταστροφών
Eidiki Monada Antimetopisis Katastrofon
Afetlere Müdahale Birimi

Fire Service overview
Formed| 2 April 2002 (2002-04-02)[4]
Jurisdiction| Republic of Cyprus
Headquarters| Kofinou, Larnaca, Cyprus
Motto| ΘΑΡΣΕΙΝ ΣΩΖΕΙΝ
Employees| 504
Parent department| Cyprus Fire Service
Website| www.fs.gov.cy/fs/fs.nsf/page11_gr/page11_gr?OpenDocument

### History[edit]

Although the formation of a special unit responding to disasters within the structure of the Fire Service was a concept that existed for several years, there were no significant steps made to implement it, but the large destructive earthquakes that struck Cyprus’ neighboring countries, Turkey and Greece in 1999, revealed the urgent need to create such a special unit for dealing with major disasters in the country.

So, on 2 April 2002, the Cyprus Fire Service, established (Greek: Ε.Μ.Α.Κ. Ειδική Μονάδα Αντιμετώπισης Καταστροφών) or directly translated into Special Unit Dealing with Catastrophes. The USAR team is staffed by 50 firefighters from almost all districts of Cyprus. The unit is based in Kofinou due to the central location of this community, to allow easy access in the areas of Cyprus that are not occupied.[4]

### Training[edit]

For the success of the Unit’s objectives the specialised training of the men is required, so the men of the Unit received training both in Cyprus and abroad. Courses in Cyprus mainly involved climbing and rappelling on steep areas to rescue people, classes to handle polytraumatic patients and rescuing people that were involved in traffic accidents. Unit members were also trained in countries abroad. Specifically in the U.S. and Singapore, the men were trained in earthquake rescue. In Sweden they were trained on how to deal with chemical materials.

A number of elite members of the Unit also received specialised search and rescue Scuba diving training for sea, lakes and dams.

The Unit recently acquired a specialised rescue team, for earthquake or open spaces rescue, with the use of trained tracking dogs. The training took place in Cyprus from qualified instructors. The last stage of the program took place on the premises of the equivalent EKAM Unit in Greece.[4]

## See also[edit]

* Cypriot National Guard
* Cyprus Air Forces
* Cyprus Civil Defence
* Cyprus Joint Rescue Coordination Center
* Cyprus Navy
* Cyprus Police
* Cyprus Port & Marine Police
* List of fire departments

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Pyrosvestikí Ypiresía - Apostolí" Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία - Αποστολή [Fire Service - Dispatch] (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2012-11-11. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
2. ^ "Pyrosvestikí Ypiresía - Istorikí Anadromí" Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία - Ιστορική Αναδρομή [Fire Service - Historical Review] (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
3. ^ "O perí Pyrosvestikís Ypiresías Nómos tou 2021 (100(I)/2021)" Ο περί Πυροσβεστικής Υπηρεσίας Νόμος του 2021 (100(I)/2021) [The Fire Service Law of 2021 (100(I)/2021)] (in Greek). Retrieved 4 Dec 2021.
4. ^ a b c "Πυροσβεστική Υπηρεσία - E.M.A.K." www.fs.gov.cy. Archived from the original on 7 December 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2022.

## External links[edit]

* Official website

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Geography of firefighting

* Albania
* Algeria
* Andorra
* Australia
* Belgium
* Brunei
* China (People's Republic)
* Cyprus
* Denmark - Copenhagen Fire Department
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* Germany
* Ghana
* Greece
* Hong Kong SAR
* Indonesia
* Israel
* Italy
* Jamaica
* Luxembourg
* Macau SAR
* Malaysia (JBPM•MCDF)
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Poland
* Philippines
* Romanian
* Russia
* Singapore
* Sri Lanka
* South Korea
* Taiwan
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Vatican City

List of fire departments

* v
* t
* e

Firefighting

Personnel and organization|

* Battalion chief
* Chief firefighter
* Fire captain
* Fire chief
* Station officer
* Retained firefighter
* Fire marshal
* Fire police
* Firefighter assist and search team
* Handcrew
* Special operations firefighter
* Volunteer fire department
* Women in firefighting
* Fire department ranks by country

Facilities|

* Drill tower
* Fire department
* list
* Fire lookout tower
* Fire station
* Hose tower

Apparatus|

* Airport crash tender
* Fire motorcycle
* Fire car
* Fire engine
* Fireboat
* Firefighting apparatus
* Hazardous materials apparatus
* Light and air unit
* Quint
* Rescue vehicle
* Water tender

Equipment|

* Bunker gear
* Escape chair
* Fire blanket
* Fire brigade keys
* Fire bucket
* Fire extinguisher
* Fire hose
* Fire hydrant
* Fire proximity suit
* Fire retardant
* Fire shelter
* Fireman's pole
* Fireman's switch
* Flame retardant
* Fog nozzle
* Halligan bar
* Hard suction hose
* Hazmat suit
* Heat detector
* Hose bridge
* Hydraulic rescue tools ("Jaws of life")
* Kelly tool
* Nomex
* New York roof hook
* PASS device
* The pig
* Portable water tank
* Rotary saw
* Secure information box
* Self-contained breathing apparatus
* Siren
* Smoke detector
* Thermal imaging camera

Terminology|

* Backdraft
* Barn fire
* Chimney fire
* Dead man zone
* Deluge gun
* Door breaching
* Draft
* False alarm
* Fire class
* Fire control
* Fire safety
* Fire triangle
* Fireman's carry
* Firewall
* Flash fire
* Flashover
* Gaseous fire suppression
* Multiple-alarm fire
* Stop, drop and roll
* Structure fire
* Two-in, two-out
* Ventilation

Miscellaneous|

* Candidate Physical Ability Test
* Fire camp
* Fire engine red
* Fire photography
* Fire protection engineering
* Geography of firefighting
* History of firefighting
* International Association of Fire Fighters
* International Firefighters' Day
* List of firefighting films
* Muster
* Saint Florian
* World Firefighters Games
* World Police and Fire Games

Wildfires|

| General|

* Wildfire emergency management
* Wildfire suppression

|

Equipment
and tactics|

* Aerial firefighting
* Controlled burn
* Driptorch
* Fire flapper
* Fire hose
* Fire lookout tower
* Fire rake
* Fire retardant
* Fire retardant gel
* Fire trail
* Firebreak
* Firefighting apparatus
* Firefighting foam
* Helicopter bucket
* Hose pack
* McLeod
* Modular Airborne FireFighting System
* Pulaski
* Wildfire suppression equipment and personnel
* Wildland fire engine
* Wildland water tender

Personnel|

* Fire lookout
* Handcrew
* Helitack
* Hotshot crew
* Smokejumper
* Wildland fire module

By location|

* Ancient Rome
* Australia
* United States
* History
* California
* Washington

Lists|

* Glossary of wildfire terms
* List of wildfires

See also|

* Template:Fire
* Template:Fire protection

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