UK

Emergency crews continue to tackle wildfire burning in the Highlands

Emergency crews remain at the scene of a wildfire that has blazed through the Highlands since Saturday afternoon.

The fire broke out near Daviot, south of Inverness, with villagers advised to remain indoors and close all windows and doors to prevent smoke inhalation.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said at its height six appliances and specialist resources were sent to battle the flames.

A spokesperson said: “As of Monday 11 June at 8am, two appliances remain on the scene working to extinguish the fire and prevent further fire spread.”

The fire started close to a caravan park at about 2.45pm on Saturday during what was the hottest day of the year so far in Scotland.

A temperature of 26.7C was recorded in Auchincruive in South Ayrshire and 23C in Inverness.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player


0:48

The fire started on Saturday afternoon

On Saturday, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) was asked to temporarily turn off the power supply to 41 properties nearby.

More on Scotland

A spokesperson from SSEN Distribution said: “Using mobile generation equipment and by rerouting supplies to different parts of our network, we were able to get the power back on to 29 properties by 11pm that night, while still crucially ensuring the section of the network where the fire service teams were working was not live.

“Following confirmation from the fire service shortly before 4.15pm yesterday afternoon to advise that they no longer required that section of network to be isolated, supplies to all 41 properties were restored by 5pm on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, the fire service has extended a “very high” wildfire warning which was in place until Saturday through to Monday.

Read more:
Firefighters tackling ‘mile long’ wildfire near Inverness

Smoke from massive wildfire in the Scottish Highlands visible from space
Massive wildfire in Scottish Highlands has burned nearly six square miles of land

The Daviot fire follows one near Cannich in the Highlands, which began on 28 May.

Crews – including firefighters, farmers, gamekeepers and teams from Forestry and Land Scotland and RSPB Scotland – spent days bringing the fire under control.

Smoke from the flames could be seen from space, with satellite images capturing the plumes drifting across to Loch Ness.

The SFRS later reported that it burned around 15 square kilometres (nearly six square miles) of land.