Helicopter called in to water-bomb gorse fire at Black Isle beauty spot

A helicopter scooped up seawater from the Moray Firth to water-bomb a wildfire at a remote Black Isle beauty spot yesterday.

Fire crews spent most of the day tackling the fire in gorse bushes at South Sutor, near Cromarty.

They extinguished the flames twice, only for the fire to restart.

The alarm was raised about 9pm on Thursday and firefighters spent three hours trying to douse the flames before lack of light forced them to leave the scene.

A spokeswoman for Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze covered about three-quarters of an acre.

She said the landowner had kept watch at the scene overnight but had to call out firefighters just after 5am after the blaze flared out of control.

It was feared at one point that the flames would spread to a nearby forest.

Smoke could be seen from across the firth at Nairn yesterday morning. Crews from Inverness, Cromarty and Fortrose brought in beaters to tackle the fire, while the helicopter water-bombed hotspots.

Firefighters left the scene about 1pm but were back an hour later when a member of the public reported seeing flames in the area again.

The fire service described this as a “small flare-up” and the crews left the scene soon after. The fire service spokes-woman said: “It was just dealing with a small number of hotspots from the initial incident. It has been made safe, although there will be areas which are smouldering.”

South Sutor is a well known to walkers and wildlife-spotters. It is thought the fire may have destroyed many birds’ nests.

An RSPB spokeswoman said they were concerned for species such as yellowhammer and linnet, which nest in gorse. A police spokeswoman said they could not yet say if the cause of the fire was suspicious.