Officials have confirmed that a dramatic blaze, which destroyed more than 12,000sqft of a north-east beach, was not the result of wilful fire-raising.
More than a dozen firefighters were assembled at Fraserburgh’s beach on Tuesday night to tackle the flames which had spread across grass covering the sands’ picturesque dunes.
At the height of the incident, 16 personnel were engaged from both Fraserburgh and Peterhead to extinguish the flames after the emergency services were called to the scene at about 7.15pm.
Concerned locals initially raised the alarm while speculation grew that the blaze had been set deliberately.
But last night, the fire service revealed there was no evidence to suggest that was the case.
A spokeswoman said: “There has been no indication that the beach fire in Fraserburgh was deliberate, so our fire investigators aren’t looking into it any further.
“In this instance, the fire was quite minor.”
Crews dealt with it for about an hour before they were stood down at 8.06pm. And they left the beach at 8.30pm.
Approximately 12,916sqft of rough grass was been destroyed in the incident, which happened within sight of the port’s golf course.
Yesterday, the dunes still bore the effects of the flames and local councillor, Brian Topping, argued the fire was a “clear warning” to people who might considering starting a fire without thinking about the potential consequences.
He said: “You can see how many people it took to put it out: people who could have been called out to something else like a road traffic accident.
“There have been a number of deliberate fires at the beach and this sends a clear warning to people with the extent of the damage it has caused and with just how quickly it spread.
“It doesn’t appear to be a deliberate fire in this case, but obviously I still take my hat off to the fire crews who were there to help put it out.”
