A chemical plant in Kaohsiung's Renda industrial park sent flames and black smoke into the sky, and the city is now fining the company — bad news for Dairen Chemical and for people living nearby.

• Residents saw fire and black smoke coming from the industrial park and reported it to the city.
• The city's AI camera monitoring system picked up the smoke at the same time, and inspectors traced it to Dairen Chemical's Kaohsiung plant.
• A faulty safety valve on an ethylene tank let process gas escape to the flare tower, which burned it off and threw visible soot into the air for over three minutes.
• Officials blamed human error and poor management, and issued a fine under Taiwan's air pollution law ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$5 million.

Outlook: The exact penalty will be set in the coming days, and the plant can expect tighter scrutiny of its equipment and safety checks.