Blazing inferno nightmare as disabled Thurso woman thought she would lose her home to wildfire

A disabled Thurso woman talked candidly about the fear and horror she experienced as a wildfire encroached upon her home last Thursday.

Louise Smith is a well-known disability campaigner in Caithness and was away from her house on John Kennedy Drive when she was told about the blaze on moorland close to it.

“For about two hours I was bawling my eyes out as I thought I was going to lose my house,” said Louise.

“The fire brigade was working to protect houses all along the back of John Kennedy Drive. They were running up the drives with hoses and heading round the back. They did an amazing job.”

Louise has suffered from the debilitating disease multiple sclerosis (MS) for many years, and the condition has worsened to the extent that she needs a special hoist to get her in and out of bed. “I’ve had MS since 2008, but not everyone ends up in a wheelchair like me. I have two people who come in to help me get in and out of bed.”

When she heard about the fire and how close it was to her property, friends helped rush her back to the street so she could recover some of the disability equipment she depends on. “The first thing we did was rescue my adapted car. My priorities weren’t to rescue life memories of my children with photographs – I wondered how I would function for the next 24 hours and what I would need.”

Louise said that two of her friends were allowed to access her property to save specialist equipment like the hoist and similar items. “I didn’t know if the house was going to go up in flames or not. Luckily, I was not in the house when it happened. I was down the street when I got a phone call from someone who said the fire was right at the back of my house.

“The fire brigade were directing people away from the area, so I went to my dad’s house as he lives just round the corner. Initially, I had been advised that I might not be able to get into my house again that day. That’s a huge problem as I need level access for my electric wheelchair everywhere I go.”

Louise foresaw the issues she would face if she did not save her disability aids. Eventually, the crew members from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service allowed her friends to access the house and remove the hoist and sling for lifting, an overnight bag with medication and her wheelchair charger. “I was anxious that I could lose all of these vital things in the fire, so didn’t even think about saving items of sentimental value.

“The heat in the back garden was terrible and there were sparks blowing in. My friends, Vida and Patrick, helped get my two cats as well. There was a tree stump next to my greenhouse that was alight and they got a watering can and managed to put it out. There were a few trees out the back, and Vida heard one go up with a bang.

“If you look out the back now there are still some trees there but the gorse is all charred.”

Louise said that her daughter Lara, who lives in Aberdeen, had heard about the fire from social media and news reports. “She realised it was my house and she was really worried so as soon as I knew what was happening, I messaged her along with my son, Levant, who is studying in York. There were so many people phoning me who knew I lived close to the fire.”

She said that the fire was “spitting so many sparks and heat” that it could easily have set her home alight. She also heard that one of her neighbours lost their garden to the blaze. “I thought my decking would go up but the fire brigade were absolutely brilliant and were fighting the fire from some of the gardens here.

“If they hadn’t taken the action they did, I could have lost my house. My whole life could have gone, boom. I really fear what would have happened if it had taken place at night. I was really worried it would take off again.”

There was a second blaze near the site of the original one the next day, but that did not impact the residents on John Kennedy Drive and surrounding areas to the same extent.

The two wildfires are being treated as deliberate by police, and officers have appealed for witnesses.

The force has urged anyone who “saw people setting fires” to get in touch and the have condemned those responsible for the “extremely dangerous and reckless act” - especially given the blazes’ close proximity to people’s homes.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “If you have any information, or you saw people setting fires, get in touch with us via 101 or online, quoting ‘incident 2263 of April 10’.”