Fire crews maintaining ‘watching brief’ at scene of Aberdeenshire wildfire

Firefighters are maintaining a “watching brief” at the scene of a wildfire that broke out in Aberdeenshire on Wednesday morning.

At its peak, nine fire appliances were sent to the blaze near Alford, in the Suie Road area, and a helicopter was used to dump water onto the flames.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it was alerted to the blaze at 11.36am.

Shortly after 10.30pm, SFRS confirmed the blaze was largely extinguished and fire crews were leaving the scene, but that two appliances remained at the site “as a precaution”.

A spokesperson added: “There are no personnel currently fire fighting, so we’re just leaving two appliances in situ for a few hours for a watching brief and then that will go down to one overnight.”

Earlier people were asked to avoid the area, and those living nearby were advised to to keep doors and windows closed.