Thick black smoke rose over La Puebla de Alfindén on Thursday evening after a fire broke out at the Chazar recycling plant. The plume was visible from the A-2 motorway, drawing residents’ attention across the lower Ebro valley. The incident came just a day after another fire at the Urbaser plant in Zaragoza’s López Soriano Technological Recycling Park, renewing questions about fire safety at waste facilities in the region.
Firefighters from Zaragoza and the Provincial Fire Brigade, including a team from La Almunia de Doña Godina, arrived at the Chazar site around 17:30. A five-person crew used a heavy water tanker and a mixed heavy engine to fight the flames. The fire spread quickly through piles of cardboard and paper stored on site, making it harder to control. Local media reported that the dense smoke and scale of the fire required several firefighting units and heavy equipment. HERALDO also reported that the fire broke out on the facility’s outdoor grounds, where scrap metal and waste are stored. Local fire services officially confirmed the blaze.
Authorities said there were no reports of serious injuries. Pilar Villanueva, mayor of La Puebla de Alfindén, described a chaotic scene, with fire trucks moving in and out as thick smoke covered the area. The quick response from emergency teams helped prevent greater harm, but the fire left many residents uneasy, especially given the plant’s proximity to homes and major roads. HERALDO noted that the large amount of combustible material on site made the fire especially difficult to contain.
This was not the first time Chazar had dealt with a major fire. In April 2024, another blaze damaged wood and scrap-metal storage areas, and smoke was visible from nearby towns. Repeated incidents at recycling and waste plants are drawing attention to safety gaps and the need for stricter protocols. Similar problems have been reported elsewhere in Spain, including during the Ceuta wildfire response, where emergency crews faced fast-moving fires fueled by combustible materials.
For people living and working nearby, the impact was immediate. Smoke disrupted visibility on the A-2, the basic road between Zaragoza and Barcelona, and warnings were issued for people in the area. The fire was contained without loss of life, but the frequency of such incidents at recycling plants is hard to ignore. The pattern points to ongoing problems with fire prevention and risk management in Spain’s waste sector. Unless operators and regulators take concrete steps to address these issues, communities near these facilities remain at risk of another major fire.
