Six crews have tackled a “large” fire at a waste management centre near Dunfermline.
The alarm was raised at the Cireco Waste Management site at Lochhead near 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”.
It is understood the fire started in piles of rubbish stored at the rear of the waste processing facility.
Dunfermline recycling centre fire started in ‘blue bin’ waste
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.”
Robin Baird, chief executive of Cireco Scotland, which manages Fife Council’s waste, confirmed the fire has now been extinguished.
He said: “There has been no damage or injuries.
“Dunfermline Recycling Centre, which is at the entrance to Lochhead, is open as normal.”
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