'All quiet' after latest check at Glenmore fire

Local fire crews' long vigil way off the beaten track in Glenmore after yesterday afternoon's wildfire was officially declared over at 9.51 this morning.

After the alarm went up at three yesterday afternoon some four pumps and three community response units, backed up by two all-terrain vehicles, rushed to a normally peaceful area of woodland towards Rothiemurchus Lodge where it's understood campers have been staying.

Watersports visitors at Loch Morlich beach watched as a pillar of smoke rose from the distant forest and slowly moved eastwoods but as one observer told the Strathy: "That area is so remote the emergency services will have a lot of difficulty getting to it in any force. But at least there's no wind to speak off."

The firefighters were there for the rest of the day and one crew stayed on the scene until just after 10.30pm to see that no wind did pick up on any of the ashes left by the blaze, which at one point was said to have cover an area 30x100m.

A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said this afternoon: "We carried out one more check this morning.

"There was a unit on the site from 7.43 until 9.51 just to carry out a final check.

"We have since left the site."

Now the authorities – not least the Cairngorm National Park Authority, which has taken on extra rangers to avert precisely this kind of incident – will have the wild fire of public opinion to deal with.

Social media sites since last night have been red hot with complaints over the abuse of the beauty spots such as Glenmore by certain campers, wild or otherwise.

Complaints have ranged over the last few hours from "Simply asking campers to take more care is not enough" to "Send in the troops now!"

Yesterday was the first day of the new Level One tier in the strath.

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