Geri fire will take time to extinguish completely
Neither water nor soil can be used to put out flare-ups at a Geri recycling plant that burnt down over the weekend, fire services spokesman Andreas Kettis said on Wednesday.
Telling the Cyprus Mail why water cannot be used, Kettis said that the items that have remained from the blaze are all stacked in piles, and if the fire service were to knock the piles down with water they would risk causing more blazes and creating more pollution.
Likewise, Kettis said that burying the material under soil would create furnace conditions, causing a risk of these materials smouldering for months.
Kettis emphasised that the fire service has been at the site of the fire since the first day.
On the first day, nine fire engines were at the factory and they remained during the first night, the next day six vehicles remained at the factory, while as of Wednesday two fire engines are at the site.
He said to put out the fire completely will take time.
“There is no other way,” he said.
He added that the fire brigade has covered the perimeter and created cooling silos and interventions where necessary, explaining however that if the fire brigade pours water on the flare-ups, then conditions like those that existed on the first day will be created that could be possibly worse.
“We try to protect the staff as much as possible. There are no other options, it will take some time for the burning to complete,” he said.
He added that the most important thing is not to cause a fire in these materials, the second is that if a fire occurs, it should be dealt with immediately, and there should be a proper layout of the space to limit the spread of the fire.
On Sunday, the fire completely destroyed the recycling facility in Geri, and left residents without power and sheltering in place, due to toxic smoke.
The labour inspection department had urged caution for people venturing outside, encouraging the public to stay indoors, but later said it was safe.
Meanwhile, the Green party issued a strong statement saying neither proper crisis management nor a timely public warning system existed, to prevent severe environmental impact.