Huge fire guts 8,000 sq m recycling plant near Ljubljana, no injuries

A large fire tore through an electronics and metal recycling plant in the Zapolje business zone in Logatec, about 25 kilometres from Ljubljana, on Monday night, engulfing almost the entire 8,000-square-metre building, the Logatec municipality said. No injuries were reported.

The fire broke out at 22:13 at a facility run by the company Blok, which recycles waste electrical and electronic equipment, plastics and metals, the municipality said, according to N1 Srbija and N1 BiH. Twenty-five fire units responded overnight, alongside police, ambulance crews, a civil-protection unit and an environmental laboratory team from the Jöžef Stefan Institute.

By Tuesday morning, about 150 firefighters from 37 fire brigades were at the scene, with fresh crews relieving those who had worked through the night, Slovenia's Administration for Protection and Rescue said. Fire chief Urban Korenč told the Slovenian Press Agency (STA) that crews were still extinguishing several large hotspots but that the fire had not spread to other buildings. Firefighters struggled to reach some pockets of flame because recycled plastics and electronic waste were packed tightly together, making them hard to extinguish fully, local fire officers said.

Authorities asked residents of Logatec and nearby areas to keep windows shut, limit time outdoors and follow health guidance as thick smoke rose from the site, with the smell reaching as far as the neighbouring town of Vrhnika. Korenč said the smoke was drifting away from residential areas, and Slovenia's National Institute of Public Health said initial assessments suggested it did not pose a major health risk, as homes were some distance from the fire.

The Logatec municipal utility warned that firefighting operations could cause water shortages across most of Logatec and parts of Zaplana and Petkovec, and advised residents in those areas to boil tap water. Police cordoned off the wider area around the site and asked residents to follow instructions from emergency crews and not approach the scene. Firefighters from Vrhnika, who have handled previous large blazes at a nearby waste-processing plant, said the operation demanded similar physical and mental endurance.