Highland wildfires stretch crews to the limit
CREWS from eight local fire stations have been battling a large wildfire in Ross-shire.
The call was received yesterday (Friday) afternoon about a wildfire which was affecting property, trees and gorse on the Scoraig peninsula in Wester Ross.
Crews from Ullapool, Gairloch, Torridon, Balintore, Invergordon, Cromarty, Achiltibuie and Kinlochewe were involved in the incident.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Servcie was supported by colleagues in the RNLI in Lochinver who provided a boat to ferry firefighters from Ullapool to the peninsula, which is not accessible by road.
They used knapsack sprayers, hosereel jets and fire beaters to extinguish the fire, which was affecting 30 acres of gorse, one acre of plantation trees and two acres of wild trees.
Firefighters managed to prevent the fire from affecting properties in the area.
Meanwhile, firefighters have been working through the night at the scene of another large wildfire on the hill in the Torness area, near Inverness.
Control were alerted at around 3.50pm yesterday to the fire which involved grass and trees in the area.
Since the incident began crews from Inverness, Foyers, Dingwall, Drumnadrochit, Fort Augustus, Nairn, Grantown on Spey, Beauly, Carrbridge and Balintore have been involved.
A helicopter was drafted in this morning (Saturday) from PDG and it will be carrying out water bombing activity in the area as crews continue to tackle the fire.
Firefighters have been using fire beaters, knapsack sprayers and main jets to tackle the blaze and six pumps remain at the scene.
Also in attendance is the argocat off-road vehicle and a similar vehicle which has been provided by the estate.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is working closely with the Forestry Commission and the estate owners.
Chair of the Scottish Wildfire Forum and Director of Service Delivery in the north, Assistant Chief Officer Robert Scott, said: "Our crews have been working extremely hard throughout the night and into this morning to deal with two large-scale wildfires.
"Their tireless work is helping to reduce the impact on the countryside and during the incident in Scoraig their efforts managed to help protect people and property."
He added: "The recent warm weather has increased the risk of outdoor fires. Protecting the countryside from wildfires demands that everyone recognises the risk and takes responsibility for preventing fires breaking out in the countryside and areas of grassland.
"Information and advice is readily available about preventing countryside fires, such as the Muirburn Code and Scottish Outdoor Access Code.
"We want people to Join Scotland’s Fight Against Fire and we are urging communities, tourists and visitors to be aware of the heightened risk of wildfire at this time of year.
"SFRS want people to act responsibly in a countryside environment, such as properly disposing of smoking materials to prevent these fires happening in the first place."
