Progress made in bringing Galloway wildfire under control

Firefighters remain at the scene of a wildfire which has been burning since Thursday, although progress has been made in bringing it under control.

The blaze began in the Glen Trool area of the Galloway Forest Park, but has since stretched up to Loch Doon in East Ayrshire.

Anyone camping in the area was advised by police to leave as emergency services tackled the blaze and some campers were rescued by helicopter.

Helicopters were deployed to “water-bomb” the fire over the weekend and a fire engine remained at the scene overnight on Sunday, while another was on its way to the scene at 6.30am on Monday.

Meanwhile, in the Highlands, firefighters are tackling a wildfire at Stac Pollaidh, Inverpolly Forest, north of Ullapool, which broke out on Sunday morning.

Five appliances were at the scene on Monday morning and people have been advised to stay away from the area.

The Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) met on Sunday evening to discuss the response to the fire in the Galloway area.

Justice Secretary Angela Constance, who chaired the meeting, said the situation is under control.

“I am extremely grateful to all the first responders who have been working hard to control this fire since it was first reported on Thursday,” she said.

“Thanks to their efforts, significant progress has been made and the situation is currently under control.

“I am reassured to hear that so far there has been no damage to properties or mature woodland.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) previously warned there was a “very high” to “extreme” risk of wildfire across Scotland from Wednesday April 2 until Monday April 7 as the country enjoyed dry and sunny weather.

Together with the Scottish Wildfire Forum, it urged people to avoid lighting fires outdoors across all areas of Scotland.

Galloway Mountain Rescue Team helped move campers to safety over the weekend.

In a post on Facebook, the team said: “We would urge anyone heading to the hills over the next week to take care and avoid lighting camp fires or using naked flames.

“It’s an exceptionally dry period of weather we have been having and for the next week it is going to be very dry as well.”

Ms Constance said: “Earlier this week the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service issued an extreme wildfire warning due to the dry conditions across much of Scotland.

“As we continue to see a period of warm and dry weather, it’s essential that all of us act responsibly while enjoying the outdoors so we can keep the number of wildfires at an absolute minimum.”

Partner agencies including the SFRS and Forestry and Land Scotland attended the SGoRR meeting.