Still blazing after two days – Sibster field on fire again

A moorland fire was witnessed to be still active along the Sibster road after two days and the matter reported to police and local fire services.

Flames and smoke were seen in a field next to the B874 road at around 1pm today (Thursday, May 2) and fire services were called and the matter was reported to the police.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) spokesperson said about the first operation to douse the flames on Tuesday (April 30): “We got the call at 17:02 and one appliance from Wick attended and we got the stoppage at 18:54.”

The fire had destroyed many yards of fencing and whin bushes alongside the road and even burnt areas of grass along the verge. It is unclear how a field could be set on fire without human intervention but statutory muirburn, when some burning is acceptable for land management reasons, runs from October 1 to April 15 with a possible extension, with the landowner’s permission, to April 30.

The Scottish Government does not encourage this extension, as there are increased risks to ground-nesting birds in late April.

In a small number of exceptional circumstances, burning outwith the season can be applied for.

The landowner must have sufficient people and equipment to control the fire properly. The area is not listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest but ground-nesting birds, such as curlew, use areas like this and would be unduly affected.

It is also not legal to leave a fire unattended or burn areas within 30 metres of a public road.

The same area had, by coincidence, been affected by fire several weeks ago. On April 8, three weeks before the latest incident, a photograph was taken showing the site had been blackened by a recent conflagration.

SFRS was informed that the field was still ablaze today and no people were witnessed to be in attendance at the site to control the flames. Police Scotland was also informed of the matter.