The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Fort blaze blamed on youngsters
Incident definitely malicious act, says Lochaber fire chief as police give warning
Emergency: A fire which threatened to engulf a hill next to a large Lochaber housing estate has been put down to malicious fire- raising by youngsters in the area.
Lochaber fire brigade watch manager chris Findlay said the youngsters set three fires in a trail leading to the Plantation area of Fort William.
He said he believed they were watching his team put out a fire at the Sugar Loaf hill before lighting further fires at Douglas Place and near the Plantation shooting range.
The final fire stretched for several hundred feet fuelled by dry gorse bushes.
T he incident has prompted a warning from police at Fort William who attended the incidents and attempted to track down the culprits.
Sergeant Nick Hough said: “It is a very dangerous thing to do particularly after dry conditions.
“It is something we are actively trying to deter in Lochaber. We would warn anybody against doing this and also ask anyone who has any information about these incidents to contact the police.”
Two fire appliances and a team of 12 men were sent to deal with the fires.
The team spent almost two hours fighting the fires in the hills above Fort William before calling off the effort due to nightfall.
A watchman remained stationed at the location to monitor the fire until it went out in the early hours of yesterday.
Mr Findlay said: “It was definitely a malicious fire. We think they were watching us as we went to the first one and then kept lighting more. Sadly this is a fairly common occurrence, especially in that area. Luckily there was a road and a path between the houses and the fire so it was unlikely to spread to the houses but it could easily have gone uphill would have caused serious damage. It’s a concern for us because it ties up the appliances at the job until it’s out and could be dangerous for residents or for us ourselves in dealing with it.”