Fire at Geri recycling plant under control, hydrants to be installed (Update 2)

A fire that broke out early on Friday morning at a metals recycling plant in the Geri industrial area has been brought under control with the use of five fire service vehicles.

Fire service spokesman Andreas Kettis in a post on X (formerly Twitter) said that forces remain onsite to guard against flare-ups.

“The fact that the fire was promptly dealt with is due to measures put in place following a previous fire at the same plant,” Geri Mayor Neophytos Papalazarou told the state broadcaster CyBC. He was referring to a fire which broke out there on October 19, 2021.

The latest fire was not at the same the plant which suffered a huge blaze recently in July.

The latest fire broke out at 5.40am at a car parts recycling site, and was due to a small battery device which burst into flames in a dropped-off vehicle, according to Papalazarou. The device, which by rights should have been removed from the vehicle as per the facility’s set procedure, was not detected due to its size.

He also said that last week he visited the facility along with fire service and department of environment employees.

The mayor reiterated a longstanding call for a definitive solution to be found for repeated incidents of fire and industrial pollution in the community, and recalled that the matter had previously been taken as far as the President’s office.

“All factory owners in the industrial area have been contacted and residents’ concerns have been explained,” the mayor said.

He noted that factories operating in the area are being inspected and said the municipality is also pushing for measures to boost the speed of response for fire services in the area.

Hydrants are soon to be installed in specific locations indicated by the authorities so that in the event of a fire water can be taken from there.

Papalazarou emphasised that the community will not tolerate any additional permits or industrial installations.

The fire service spokesman earlier told CyBC that the fire was burning a large mound of materials and four fire engines had been sent to the scene with reinforcements from Larnaca and Nicosia having been called in.

The firefighting efforts were focused on preventing the spread of the fire to an adjacent mound.

Commuters reported seeing large plumes of smoke from the Nicosia-Limassol highway, however, the Geri mayor assured that overall air quality in the area had not been affected.

On Wednesday a similar incident was reported at a metal recycling plant in Aradippou in Larnaca, resulting in serious injury to a 68-year-old man and minor injuries to two workers.