Scottish Water joins calls to prevent wildfire damage
Scottish Water has joined calls to raise awareness of wildfire risks to prevent damage and help protect the environment and water supplies
Scottish Water has joined calls to raise awareness of wildfire risks to prevent damage and help protect the environment and water supplies
The National Trust for Scotland says that later this week it intends using a drone to map the extent of the damage caused by last week’s wildfire more accurately and help better assess the effects on wildlife.
Iain Turnbull, NTS’s Property Manager of the Balmacara Estate, praised the Scottish Fire and Rescue for what he called ‘an outstanding job’ of controlling and eventually extinguishing the blaze.
Four fire appliances plus specialist resources were deployed to the scene.
North, Central and West Scotland – including parts of Lochaber – is classed as extreme risk over the next three days, with the addition of Monday also for West Scotland.
Four fire engines were sent to the scene at 6.18pm on Saturday April 2
At its height six fire appliances and around 30 firefighters tackled the fire which measured approximately two fronts of 1000 metres each.
Warmer weather and the increased numbers of people visiting the countryside as pandemic restrictions ease create a greater risk of fire.
Crews from as far away as Inveraray’s retained station and volunteers from Dalmally, Appin and Tyndrum joined Oban firefighters using beaters, specialist knapsacks and hoses to get the flames, seen from miles around, under control.
At the peak of the blaze above Oban there were four appliances from as far away as Inveraray at the scene after the first call to a grassfire was reported at 3.34pm yesterday.