Campers have been slammed for leaving a “quite ridiculous” fire smouldering at a Stewartry beauty spot.
Loch Ken Trust rangers Ken Scott and Leanne Pumpr discovered the fire still alight deep in the remains of a dead tree on the west side of the loch on Thursday.
They dowsed the smouldering tree with water to ensure there was no further danger of it igniting the surrounding tinder dry undergrowth.
The pair had been patrolling a private woodland and discovered visitors had built a stone fire circle around the remains of a dead tree.
Mr Scott said: “That one was quite ridiculous. The area of land has about three or four separate stone circles where people have had fires in the past.
“I sometimes throw the stones back along the shore but the landowner is asking me to leave them to encourage people to reuse them.
“For some reason, this time they built their own fire circle around the remains of a dead tree.
“Their fire has dug deep into that dead tree. They left the area fairly tidy so I’m guessing they couldn’t tell the fire was still going.
“I think they have tried to douse that and it has looked as if it is out. It was such a deep fire and any water on the surface would have dried in the wind and then any smouldering underneath has reactivated. I think we got there just in time.”
The rangers have been putting signs up warning campers of the high risk of fire but the scorching temperatures at the start of the week may result in that being changed to an extreme fire risk.
It wasn’t the only incident of antisocial behaviour the rangers had to deal with this week.
On Saturday, they received reports of fishermen partying on Danevale Island.
And when Mr Scott and his wife visited by canoe on Sunday, they discovered rubbish, soiled toilet paper and the remains of a camp fire.
They later discovered a motorboat and three fishermen removing the rubbish, with Mr Scott reminding them that legislation did not allow fishing or the use of the motorboat without the say so of the landowner.
They agreed to leave once they’d cleaned up their waste.
Mr Scott, who was the first seasonal ranger appointed last year, said: “It seems that for years when there was no ranger, motorised access has been going on.
“The fishermen are hiring boats or bringing in their own boats and going ashore without the landowner’s permission.
“We are seeing a few more incidents where we are asking people to move on because the landowners don’t want them in there to do that sort of things.”
