Fire at Osijek plastics company brought under control

A fire involving sorted waste broke out late Tuesday at the Drava International plastics-processing company in Osijek, but firefighters brought it under control within about 20 minutes.

The blaze covered an area of roughly 10 by 25 meters in the northern part of the company’s site. Twelve firefighters and four vehicles from Osijek’s public fire brigade responded, joined by firefighters from the company’s own service.

County fire commander Zoran Pakšec said the waste had been stored in bales and isolated from buildings. There was no open flame after the intervention, but firefighters remained ready in case the situation escalated.

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We were alerted that some waste was burning. It had been sorted into bales, but it was isolated from the buildings.

The incident recalled a much larger fire at the company’s outdoor plastic storage area in October 2023. More than 300 professional and volunteer firefighters took part in extinguishing that blaze, three firefighters were injured and Osijek-Baranja County declared a major accident because of the fire and heavy smoke.

The company’s owner and director Zvonko Bede, along with employees Zoran Zatko and Vinko Klarić, were arrested in January 2024 on suspicion of several criminal offenses and later released from pretrial detention. Their trial began in June 2025. Prosecutors accuse the defendants and the company of improperly storing and mixing waste and failing to maintain adequate fire-protection equipment and access routes. Another plastic fire in August 2024 was quickly extinguished and was attributed to a technical cause involving a short circuit between power lines caused by aluminum foil.

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The fire was brought under control and contained because there were no longer any open flames after the intervention, but firefighters will remain ready in case anything escalates.