Last week's fire at an area by the salt lake was a sobering wake-up call for Larnaca residents, and a reminder of how fragile we really are.
With so many daily trials and tribulations to contend with, we tend not to account for the possibility of other, more serious events. I think that this is because – thankfully – we have not experienced many of the major-scale disasters of other parts of the world, and so, our daily frustrations with government offices and bad drivers do indeed seem to be absolutely tragic on a personal level for each of us! Then something truly, potentially dangerous happens and we are forced to open our eyes to what it means to live in a world where your health and wellbeing doesn't just depend on you and your personal choices, but on those of the whole community and the governing bodies of the region we live in.
As is typical in these kinds of circumstances, the 'what if's' started to unfold as the fire blazed. As the site of the fire was roughly opposite the area where my parents live; roughly opposite my daughter's ballet school; next to my son's school, and more alarmingly, by the petrol station of the area, for me, it was a case of 'what if' it had happened when my son was at school? 'What if' it reached the ballet school where my daughter was at the time? 'What if' my parents had to evacuate or lost their property? But the biggest and scariest of all… 'what if' it reached the petrol station?
I am not aggrandising here because it was a fire of a potentially very damaging size, and due to the dry and brittle foliage of the area – as well as the petrol station – it could have been potentially a whole lot worse. As we know, the fire department did a grand job of containing it; the petrol station closed its pumps down, fire breakers were dug out and the ending is a largely happy one for the residents of the area and Larnaca, with no loss of human life or damage to properties. I won't say that any damage to the area's flora or fauna is acceptable, because it is not, and it is tragic to lose any kind of natural wealth, let alone that of a protected area, but all things considering, we (as in Larnaca) did okay.
Of course, we cannot think 'what if' because if it didn't happen, then there is nothing to worry about. Or is there? The 'what ifs' could easily be real situations, so just because something didn't happen and there is no need to lay blame, make accusations and demand justice, that doesn't mean we get off scott-free.
One of my first questions was 'should there be a petrol station right next to a school and a protected forestland of much undergrowth and bamboo – which basically becomes firewood in the hot months?' I was told that all the right safety measures are indeed in place and it is okay. But still… it got me thinking about something that I had always taken for granted – the location of the petrol station. In fairness, the petrol station was there long before the school was built, but it does make me wonder about the protocols of town planning.
And there is the issue of whether it was arson; believed to have been triggered by the mosquitoes in the area. I like to think that no human being would be so reckless as to endanger human life and cause damage to the area they live in just to make a point, but we all know that there are people like that out there.
Sadly, our wellbeing is indeed a collective issue of community, and so we all need to ensure that we are a positive force in ours, and not the (dry and flamable) straw that breaks the camel's back.
First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly newspaper, 05/06/15
