Fire spotted by aircraft

Jul 15 2010 by Marjorie Kerr, West Lothian Courier

A BLAZE which ripped through a farm was so ferocious it was spotted from the air by a pilot.

The fire at Coxydene Farm near East Calder broke out last Wednesday night (July 7) and firefighters from Edinburgh and West Calder raced to tackle the flames.

The fire broke out among wooden crates but quickly spread to sheds which contained gas cylinders. Two nearby cottages were evacuated while fire crews doused the flames and the nearby A71 was closed for several hours.

Firefighters battled into the early hours of Thursday morning to bring the blaze under control.

Stacey Young of Kirknewton saw the fire from her home and said even for a distance away it looked very frightening.

She said: “It was a massive fire. I was standing doing my dishes when I first saw it.

“I got my camera and zoomed right in to see what was going on and could see that one part of the farm was on fire.

“I saw the fire engines coming from both the West Lothian and Edinburgh directions. About half an hour later we saw bright flashes which looked like something exploding and loads of smoke.

“It seemed as if as they were putting one part out and another part of the farm would go up in flames.

“It was scary for me to watch so it must have been really frightening for anyone who lived closer to it.”

This week Lothian and Borders Fire Rescue confirmed they had received a call from Edinburgh Airport stating that the flames could be seen from the air.

A spokeswoman said: “A call came in from the airport saying that a pilot had seen the fire on his way to land.”