High winds brought down power lines and started a massive wildfire in the Highlands at the weekend.
Fire crews were brought in from stations in a 100 mile radius around Aviemore to tackle the blaze, which burned for 24 hours.
At its height, the fire at Rothiemurchus spread to engulf an area of woodland measuring over 1,640 feet by 328 feet – roughly the length of 10 football pitches.
Much of the area had recently been felled, making for treacherous underfoot conditions for firefighters.
They had first been alerted by Scottish Power after a power outage alerted them to a fault on a power cable. The fire was already well underway when engineers arrived.
Gusts of up to 30-40mph were recorded in parts of the Cairngorms over the course of the weekend.
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They swiftly raised the alarm, with the first fire crews on scene at about 11.40am on Saturday, remaining there for 24 hours.
One eye witness, Sonya Pinscovka, who works in a local hotel, said: “It was like being in a city centre there were so many fire engines coming up the hill.
“Thankfully the fire wasn’t burning anywhere near houses and though it burned for a while they seemed to have everything under control very quickly.”
Inverness station manager Myles Stubbs was the fire services incident commander and said his crews had been faced with a problematic fire of “some significance”.
“The fire started due to power lines that had fallen due to high winds,” he said.
“We were working in an area of 1,640 feet by 328 feet, in arduous conditions, and the area had to be made safe by Scottish Power first. That was done safely, quickly and efficiently.
“Due to the area having been felled, it was very difficult for fire crews underfoot and was very hard going and there were gusts of winds of between 30 and 40mph.
“The teams did very well to bring the fire under control in such a short time.
“Due to the conditions and the safety of our teams, we monitored the situation overnight and returned to tackle the blaze shortly after 7am on Sunday.
“This fire was of some significance.”
A welfare van was sent to Rothiemurchus to keep firefighters refreshed as they tackled the fire.
