Local firefighters battle for over 12 hours to get wildfire at Thurso Moors under control
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It took more than 12 hours for local firefighters to tackle a gorse fire that broke out near Thurso Golf Club yesterday afternoon.
Describing the fire, which covered an area of nearly half a mile, chairman of Thurso Community Council, Ron Gunn, who could see the blaze from his garden, said: "I saw this mass of smoke and could see it getting bigger and spreading. I was not sure what it was but presumed it would be at the moors. It looked pretty frightening to be honest."
The plumes of smoke could be seen by residents as far away as 20 miles.
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 4.10pm on Sunday, July 25 to reports of a fire in the open at Thurso Moors, Golf Course Road, Thurso.
“Operations Control mobilised four appliances to the scene and firefighters worked for more than 12 hours to extinguish a gorse fire approximately half a mile in length.
“Crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe and there were no reported casualties.”
Another local man Alexander Glasgow, who tends to the roses and hanging baskets in Thurso, went up to visit the area today (Monday), once it was clear, to see the damage for himself. He said he saw a "desolation of burn scrub" stretching roughly from behind Lord Thurso Court to around possibly the Dunbar Hospital.
"It still is very dry so a risk of further fire must remain," Mr Glasgow warned. "Some still was smoldering. What immediately struck me was seeing the trunk and branch structure of the whins. You might think of them as the fine and prickly outer thorns but this showed a strong skeletal form underneath.
"One layer of growth has been destroyed – but nearby vegetation and colonizers will be ready to establish themselves, and I expect it'll look little different in a few years."
Related story – PICTURES: Wildfire at Thurso moors yesterday
