Firefighting crews on Monday continued for a third day to contain a major fire at a recycling facility in Oreokastro, north of Thessaloniki, where scattered hotspots remain active inside large piles of highly flammable materials.
Although the main blaze has been brought under control and there is no longer a unified active front, firefighters are still working to extinguish deep-seated fires burning within stacked recyclable materials, making full suppression extremely difficult.
Ground crews and heavy earth-moving machinery are operating at the site, carrying out extensive burial and covering operations aimed at smothering the flames.
According to initial assessments, three businesses have been completely destroyed, while three others sustained partial damage. Limited damage was also reported to the exterior areas of two nearby homes.
Authorities said the fire involves tons of recyclable waste, including truck tires, compressed plastic bottles and aluminum, which prevents water from reaching the core of the burning piles. Officials have instead adopted a strategy of covering the material with soil to deprive the fire of oxygen and prevent repeated flare-ups.
