A nursery community in Fort William has been left shocked and upset after an outdoor wooden structure used by pre-schoolers for learning and play was reduced to cinders overnight.
Stramash outdoor nursery’s ‘castle’ of hand-built wooden yurts with turf roofs and surrounding play structures went up in flames at around 11.30pm on Sunday.
Two fire crews from Fort William tackled the blaze at Inverlochy Mains, North Road, with jet hoses until the small hours, with a crew from Acharacle returning in the morning to check the site which had partially reignited.
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Police officers attended to support the fire crews and said yesterday there was no need for any further police involvement.
The fire was finally extinguished around 11.30 yesterday morning.
Team leader Cameron Sprague, 36, was alerted to the blaze by police at around midnight on Sunday.
He rushed to the scene and was there until after 2am.
He praised the emergency services for their ‘amazing, professional and compassionate’ response and said it had been emotional time.
He said: “I didn’t get much sleep as I had to ring round all the parents.
“Everyone’s upset, but parents have been so supportive, coming in, bringing food and checking we’re OK.
“Everything is completely gone and the insurance process is underway to replace all the cushions, sleeping bags and other equipment.
“We are treating it as an act of God, as the fire service have been clear that there will be no investigation as there is nothing there to identify what could have happened.”
Stramash has 68 children aged between two and five.
On social media parents shared their heartbreak.
One said: “My kids are devastated. I feel for the staff, they put their heart and soul into building stuff for the kids.”
Mr Sprague said nursery would resume today with a minibus outing, and a clean-up would follow.
Jess Greenhill of Stramash Social Enterprise which also runs outdoor nurseries in Oban, Elgin and Tornagrain said: “We are putting together considered arrangements for a temporary welfare shelter for the children outdoors.
“The Care Inspectorate remain fully informed in regards to our high quality care provision and we will continue to update them on developments.
“Whilst this is a shock to us all and a bitter disappointment after the work and care that has gone into these buildings, we are so grateful for the support and many offers of help from our community of parents and friends.
“Stramash Fort William is open for business and determined to build an even better nursery space for our children.
“We are in the process of setting up a ‘Just Giving’ page for those who wish to support us further, for more information and updates please visit our website stramash.org.uk.”
