Helicopter called in to water-bomb the wildfire at Kishorn
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FIREFIGHTERS battling a huge wildfire near Kishorn have made progress with the help of a helicopter now water-bombing the blaze.
The alarm was first raised at 4.20 pm yesterday (Monday) with seven crews and around 50 firefighters from Inverness and Highland villages joining the effort through the night.
Having reached a front of eight kilometres in length overnight, the crews had reduced the extent of the flames to three kilometres by 1 pm today.
A chopper from Dalcross-based PDG helicopters was drafted in to assist the operation.
A cause for the blaze has not yet been given. There is understood to be no immediate threat to life or property.
Worried residents also joined in the mass effort to contain the fire, while others posted social media pictures showing the hillside alight with flames.
A Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 4.20pm yesterday and it is still ongoing.
“The last information we have is that the extent of the fire has come down to three kilometres, from eight at one stage during the night.
“At the moment we have a command support unit used for all big fires in situ, and we still have five appliances in attendance and another on the way.
“Support has come from Inverness, Dingwall, Balintore, Kyle of Lochalsh, Torridon, Applecross and Lochcarron.
"We now have a helicopter is use, with the landowners' permission, for water-bombing.”
Last night a post on Kishorn Online Facebook page read: “A huge firefighting effort has pushed the fires along from the first half of the village.
“But the second half remains very much at risk, with the fires raging not too far up the hill. It is going to be a very long night.”
But by this morning there was some encouragement after almost 16 hours’ effort from crews.
Another post read: “The fire is out directly behind the houses but continues to burn at Glen Mòr and up the hill towards Reraig. A large emergency response team is set up in Achintraid and fire appliances remain on scene in both Kishorn and Reraig/Ardaneaskan.”
