Cause of devastating fire at Fife waste facility is revealed
A discarded lithium-ion battery caused a major fire at a Fife waste facility earlier this year, it has been confirmed.
The huge blaze broke out at the Ladybank Waste Facility near Lower Melville in May, which saw fire crews remaining on the scene for over a week.
Local residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed due to smoke billowing from the site.
A report to go to Fife Council’s environment, transportation and climate change scrutiny committee next week has now confirmed the cause.
It stated: “The cause of the fire was a lithium-ion battery incorrectly disposed of in residual waste that ignited.
“Since the fire in May partnership working has been strengthened to include the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with further press releases, videos, social posts and livery on Refuse Collection Vehicles.
“The waste industry is facing this challenge nationally with numbers of fires increasing due to incorrect disposal of batteries, particularly lithium-ion batteries, which are present in so many of the electronic devices used daily by households.”
Following the fire, site operator, Cireco, has invested in changes to its storage and processing arrangements designed to contain future fires and prevent extensive damage.
The report continues: “This includes the use of the Fire Rover, an AI-enhanced, human-verified, automated suppression system to help ensure the safety of operations.
“This is in addition to NIR fire detection, separation of the initial processing and sorting elements from the remainder of the process, ensuring storage within concrete bays has suitable fire breaks and working with the wider sector and Fire Services to determine best practice for fighting and containing fires.”