US investigators visit wildfire origin site in Malia

By Elias Hazou

American investigators on Thursday visited ‘ground zero’, the site where the devastating fires of July broke out.

The team of experts from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began their fieldwork by visiting a site west of the village of Malia, Limassol district.

The Americans are in Cyprus at the request of President Nikos Christodoulides, to investigate the causes and origin of last month’s wildfires, identify any fire response shortcomings, and make recommendations. Once their investigation is done, the ATF will submit a report to the president.

Christodoulides has urged authorities here to provide the Americans full cooperation.

Accompanying the ATF investigators at Malia were members of the fire department and the police.

The head of the ATF team told journalists that their intention is to work “as efficiently as possible” to give the answers to questions the government has asked.

Team supervisor Brian Lovin said the ATF’s national response team has a branch – the international response team – which responds across the world, at the request of different governments.

“In this particular case, the Republic of Cyprus reached out to our US embassy to request our assistance,” he said.

“Our primary goal here is to work with the law enforcement and fire department officials here to determine the origin and cause of this particular fire,” Lovin added.

He expressed his and the US government’s appreciation for the invitation “to come and assist and work with our local and state law enforcement partners”.

Asked if they had a timeline, Lovin said they did not, “so we’re going to work as efficiently as possible to give the answers that the government is requesting”.

The experts will remain in Cyprus for ten days and, upon completion of their investigation, will present an initial report on their findings, followed by a written report to be submitted to the president.