Local fire crews operated non-
Tonight’s latest call is on the hill at Bunavoneadar in North Harris where fire tenders from Scalpay and Tarbert are set to be on the scene for hours.
Winds are pushing the flames westerly along a half mile fire front since the alarm was raised at 7.50pm this (Thursday) evening.
Prolonged dry easterly winds with cold frosty weather have died out the moors while old brittle heather is ideal fuel. An “extreme risk” wildfire warning is in place and people are urged not to set heather alight and to exercise caution.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “We had lot of wildfires in the Western Isles today.
“Many locations are difficult to access with some fires up on steep hills.”
Earlier, the Harris crews attended a wildfire on the craggy slopes of Horsaclete some miles south of Tarbert.
Heather fires were also burning on Lewis -
The Barra crews were called out to a wildfire at Brevig at noon.
Wisps of smoke at Eabhal hill in North Uist this morning was a raging line of flames by teatime.
Locals in Benbecula and Uist suggest gusty winds aggravated the situation with a stiff breeze fanning the flames across moorland.
A major blaze below Rueval Hill yesterday may have started on the east coast of Benbecula, moving into the middle of the island within hours, according to residents. Fire crews used freshwater lochs as a firebreak when they could.
Having so many incidents threatened to divert the islands’ fire service from assisting at vaccination clinics in Daliburgh and Stornoway today. However, Lewis and Lochboisdale personnel still turned out alongside coastguard members to undertake marshalling duties at both venues.
Fire crews stretched as Western Isles moorland burns
11 February 2021
Moorland on fire at Sildinis across from Balallan