A large wildfire which broke out on the hillside above Inverness could have been started by people out enjoying the weekend weather.
Dozens of firefighters continued fighting the blaze yesterday on an area of land between Torbreck and Essich, to the south of the city, more than 24 hours after it started.
At its height, the wildfire affected an area of about 2.5 sq km, but crews managed to deal with most of it despite a number of smaller flare-ups yesterday due to high winds.
John MacDonald, local senior officer for the Highland area, also advised members of the public to enjoy the warm summer weather but do so “safely and responsibly to avoid the risk of wildfires”.
He said: “The public can help prevent wildfires by making sure they dispose of litter and smoking materials carefully and avoid the use of open fires while in rural areas.
“It’s crucial people act safely and responsibly in rural environments and follow the countryside code.”
A fire service spokeswoman confirmed that this was a general piece of public advice – but could not rule out that the presence of smoking materials may have caused the wildfire.
An investigation is expected to take place in the coming days to establish the cause.
A total of six appliances were mobilised after the initial call out to the wildfire at about 5.10pm on Sunday.
Crews used beaters, knapsacks and high-powered water jets to douse the flames.
No properties were evacuated but, at one point, the flames completely surrounded a pylon, with electrical engineers on standby in case it collapsed.
It is the third wildfire in the local area in as many weeks, with a large wildfire last Friday coming perilously close to homes on the Black Isle with dozens of firefighters battling on into the night to keep it at bay.
The B861 Inverness-Balnafoich road was also closed for several hours due to the wildfire and motorists were diverted via the B851 road to the A9 at Daviot.
Mr MacDonald added: “I’d like to praise the commitment and determination of our crews when faced with this significant wildfire as they worked tirelessly and under arduous conditions.
“As well as our whole-time crews, we are also extremely grateful to our retained crews who quickly responded and supported firefighting operations which have continued through the night.
“Their responsive actions highlight just how important our retained firefighters are – particularly in rural areas – where the risk of wild and grass fires is rife at this time of year.”
