Excess flaring from a gas plant in Fife was visible from Edinburgh to Angus and sparked a large number of calls to the emergency services last night.
Fife Fire and Rescue Service said they had received “a high volume” of inquiries about a large glow in the sky that could be seen from as far south as Edinburgh and as far north as Arbroath more than 70 miles away.
A spokesman said they had received confirmation it was coming from the Fife Ethylene Plant (FEP) at Mossmorran near Cowdenbeath which is run by ExxonMobil.
ExxonMobil spokesman Richard Scrase told The Courier: “I can confirm that there has been a process upset on the feed treatment unit at the Fife Ethylene Plant.
“This will result in elevated flaring for approximately 48 to 72 hours.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tEbCAXpCG3w%3Frel%3D0
“We would like to apologise for the inconvenience and concern to the local community and reassure them that there is no risk to individuals or people working at the plant,” added Mr Scrase.
The flaring was the talk of The Courier Facebook page, with scores of people leaving comments.
Jay Fleming said: “Thought something was on fire seen it from Arbroath!”, while David Calder added: “It is definitely brighter than usual.”
Keith Legg said: “Huge, clear view from my house in Dalgety Bay. Much bigger flame than normal.”
Calhi Laird, in Dundee, added: “It was almost pulsating and glowing! Strange!!”
Donna Drylie added: “It’s terrible being so close to this. It was rather scary last night!!”
The ethylene plant is one of Europe’s largest and most modern. Around 170 employees and 50 core contractors work at the plant that has an annual capacity of 830,000 tonnes of ethylene.