A special committee that was established to look into ways of tackling big mountain forest fires has suggested the creation of two airstrips on Troodos to accommodate small firefighting aircraft.
According to reports in Phileleftheros, the committee says that at least two airstrip in the mountain region of Troodos will greatly improve the response time for aircraft that are dispatched to the area to put out fires.
As things currently stand, the aircraft are stationed permanently at the airports in Larnaca and Paphos but also at the Andreas Papandreou Airbase in Paphos.
The airstrips – which would also house the smaller aircraft – would also be equipped with a maintenance area.
Earlier in the summer, two firefighters were killed as two big fires soared through to different areas of Troodos.
The blaze – which caused vast devastation to the Soleas forest area of Troodos – also saw firefighting aircraft arrive from countries such as France, Italy, Greece and Israel to assist the local authorities in their efforts.
A similar fire back in 2007 also devastated the area of Saittas in the Limassol region of Troodos.
The committee was put together in the aftermath of the fire to advice the state on what preventative measures to take for the future.