Six crews have helped tackle a “large” fire in a pile of waste at a recycling centre near Dunfermline.
The alarm was raised at the Lochhead landfill site at Wellwood, north of the city, at around 3.20am on Monday.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says it sent six appliances in total from across Fife, Alloa and Edinburgh to a “large fire involving a large collection of waste”.
The number had been reduced to three and a height appliance by 9.30am.
Dunfermline recycling centre fire started in ‘blue bin’ waste
It is understood the fire started in piles of landfill rubbish stored at the rear of the waste processing facility.
One worker told The Courier that fire alarms were triggered shortly after 3am.
He said: “The fire started in the ‘energy for waste’ material which is the blue bin household waste usually earmarked for landfill.
“It’s collected and stored outside at the rear of the plant before being incinerated.
“The fire started in that pile of materials.
“It’s not yet clear what started the fire but the likely cause could be ignition from a discarded lithium battery.
“Disposable vapes and mobile phones that have lithium batteries are a constant problem now.
“A full investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out once the current situation has been resolved.”
Our reporters are working to bring you the latest updates on this developing story.
Please check back later for more and follow The Courier on Facebook and online for breaking news.
Conversation