The large blaze near Akrounta in Limassol remained out of control on Sunday morning as aeri al fire fighting means returned to the skies.
The fire burned along both sides of the Akrounta-Dierona road and into the pine forest of Kakomali, where it has so far burned around six and a half kilometers of forest.
Ground force operated throughout the night.
After an appeal by the government to the European rescEU programme, two Canadair planes are expected to arrive from Italy later in the day.
Due to the severity of the fire, the Icarus 2 and Iphestus plans have been activated. The latter calls for a meeting of relevant ministers, which includes those of defence, interior, justice, transport and agriculture, which is already underway at the JRCC coordination centre in Larnaca.
Visiting the coordination centre in Dierona on Saturday evening, President Nikos Christodoulides said he expected a “difficult night”.
Asked about reports of suspicious activity in the area before the fire broke out, he said all allegations will be considered but fighting the fire was the priority, “and then we will look at that specific issue.”.
The fire broke out shortly after 1pm on Saturday and concerned areas of and near to the state forest in the areas of Akrounta and Dierona.
Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.