Crews meet with five-mile wall of fire on moorland

Emergency: Second wildfire breaks out in Ross-shire after Sutherland blaze

Dozens of firefighters in the Highlands were left battling two large wildfires yesterday – with miles of north moorland and forest engulfed.

Emergency services were first alerted to a substantial wildfire near Strathnaver in Sutherland at around 1pm.

A five-mile wall of flame is said to have greeted the four crews who responded to the blaze at Borgie Forest.

A helicopter was also despatched to the scene to aid the fire service in dousing the fire.

Firefighters used beaters in an effort to bring the fire under control for over six hours, splitting the fire up into three sections. Sections one and two were extinguished by around 6pm, as they continued to dampen down section two.

The operation was eventually scaled back at around 7.30pm, leaving just two appliances on the scene – one from Kinlochbervie and the other from Lybster. 12 firefighters remained at the scene to ensure the fire was extinguished.

That incident was under way as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service received another call reporting a second wildfire on the Gruinard Estate in Achnasheen, Ross-shire, with the blaze stretching more than 300 metres.

The fire service received the call at 3.54pm and proceeded to dispatch four appliances to the scene, with crews travelling from Gairloch, Ullapool, Cromarty and Aultbea.

At its height, there were 21 firefighters on the scene during the incident, using three pumps and beaters, in an attempt to bring the fire under control.

The fire was still burning last night.

“Miles of north moorland and forest engulfed”

OPERATION: Firefighters used beaters and a helicopter was sent to the scene in a six-hour effort to tackle the wildfire at Borgie Forest, Strathnaver, Sutherland