Ardgour blaze stokes fears over alleged hydrant issues
RESIDENTS in Ardgour are fearful their homes could be at risk from further fires after what they claim were clearly water pressure problems with fire hydrants during efforts to combat a recent blaze.
A fortnight ago, villagers watched in horror as flames ripped through one semi-detached home at North Corran, before spreading to a second.
Eyewitness accounts told how firefighters appeared to have difficulty maintaining water pressure from the hydrants and were forced to use water from the nearby loch.
But in the first report of the blaze carried by the Lochaber Times on March 8, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) stated there had been no issues with water pressure.
The SFRS this week confirmed fire crews had indeed drawn water from nearby Loch Linnhe to augment water supply, in addition to the large volumes of water carried in each fire engine. But its spokesman said any questions about hydrants should be directed to Scottish Water.
Quizzed this week, Scottish Water said it was not aware of any water pressure issues on the day in question.
‘The fire hydrants in the village would have been available for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to use, if required,’ said a spokesperson, adding that staff tested the hydrants the week after the blaze and found no problems.
Rab Middlemiss, local senior SFRS officer for the Highland area, said fire crews had responded quickly and effectively to what he called a ‘significant’ fire.
‘On arrival, the fire had already developed rapidly as a result of the high winds but quick and decisive action from our highly trained firefighters ensured the fire was extinguished and the scene secured,’ he said.
There has been nothing but praise for the efforts made by firefighters, but the comments from both the SFRS and Scottish Water have done little to allay the growing fears over what happens next time there is a fire.
Resident Naomi Westwood, whose home is next door to the burned out properties, told us: ‘Any number of eyewitnesses can attest to the fact that the first fire engine seemed to make a good start at putting out the fire, but after its load was spent, the other engines were unable to get any hoses working, either from the tanks they arrived with or from the water hydrants.
‘I cannot claim to know anything about fire extinguishing but all the eye-witnesses report a crucial period where there seemed, for some reason, to be no water in the hoses, and this was when the fire took hold of number 16.
‘Several people report water leaking from below the engines, instead of coming out of the hoses.
‘The firefighters did a great job, and we are very grateful to them, but it was far too late. Many locals told me they watched helplessly as the fire spread from number 16 to number 15 – which could possibly have been saved from complete destruction if only the hydrants had been working within the first hour.’
Ms Westwood said the ferocity of the fire ‘terrified’ the village.
‘We want to know who is responsible for checking these hydrants and making sure they work. If there was another fire in North Corran tonight, particularly after the ferry goes off at 9.30pm, would any of our houses be saved?’
It was Ardgour Inn proprietor Luke Alexander who first alerted the emergency services.
Mr Alexander said: ‘My major concern, and that of a lot of other people who live here, is that there was clearly a problem with the hydrants.
‘As well as the safety of a hotel with 30 or 40 guests staying overnight, we also live here and have small children – as do a lot of now very worried people.’
Mr Alexander said after the Strontian crew arrived, firefighters started spraying the wall between the two houses but then there was no water pressure.
‘One minute it came on, then there was none. It was intermittent. They just kept losing pressure. I think if there had not been a water pressure problem a lot of the damage caused to number 15 could have been mitigated.
‘That’s the whole feeling of people in the village – we all know what we saw. And it is highly worrying.’