The fire broke out in the area "Tsoliades" and was burning farmland and grassland. A total of 39 firefighters, with two teams on foot, 12 fire engines and a water-dropping helicopter, were deployed against the blaze.

In order to facilitate the access of ground firefighting forces to the fire, it was decided to close the Athens-Thessaloniki-Evzoni motorway between the Polykastro bridge to the Evzones customs office, and vehicle traffic moving towards the northern border was conducted via Polykastro.

The customs offices of the neighbouring country barred the entrance to Greek territory so that the fire can be extinguished. Traffic at the border post will resume normally once Greek authorities 'give a green light'.