Woodland fire could have led to disaster

RESIDENTS were forced to put out a woodland fire that had been left to burn out by careless youths – but fear it could have escalated into a far bigger blaze.

Those living near the Bogle Burn in Longforgan said the incident could have had “terrible repercussions” for the local wildlife had they not dampened down the flames with buckets of water on Sunday night.

The smouldering embers were discovered at the bottom of the Westbank area by residents out for an evening stroll at around 6.30pm.

One woman, who declined to be named, said there had been a group of young people who they believe may have lit the fire while they were listening to music. She said: “The fire was well alight – without buckets of water there was no way to put it out as the embers were white hot and kept relighting any dry material.

“There was no fire break made, so the dry leaves and t r e e s wo u l d have been alight in no time had we not got there when we did.

“Everything is so dry just now and having seen the reed beds and Tentsmuir on fire so recently, it could have been disastrous.

“I don’t think the fire was started with the intention of burning down the woods, one person told us they had come across youths playing music where the fire was.”

The woman said she hoped people using the woods would be more careful given the warmer temperatures the area has been experiencing.

“On this occasion the fire service didn’t have to be called but if this had gone up on fire there definitely would have been terrible repercussions for wildlife,” she added.

The incident had been discussed on social media where one person branded those responsible as “idiots on tour”.

The ashes.