A huge gorse fire near the Pentland Hills in West Lothian has triggered a major response from firefighters who continue to tackle the blaze more than 24 hours after it broke out.
Since getting the call at 1pm on Wednesday, August 10, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have mobilised nine appliances and up to 45 firefighters to the emergency area near West Calder, just behind the Pentland Hills. Locals miles away are reporting seeing clouds of smoke throughout the day.
One local near the scene even reported seeing multiple helicopters flying over the incident and spraying water to the blaze below, in an attempt to get it under control.
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A spokesperson for the SFRS confirmed that as of 4pm on Thursday, August 11, the fire remains ongoing. They added: "We were alerted at 1.23pm on Wednesday, 10 August to reports of a fire in the open at High Camilty, West Calder. "Operations Control has mobilised nine appliances to the fire and crews remain in attendance."
With the last two days in Edinburgh seeing a return of soaring temperatures of up to 28C, the risk of wildfires has increased dramatically. Similar fires within the city, East and West Lothian have been reported during the week so far.
While the exact cause of the ongoing fire is currently unknown, the scale of the blaze means fire crews are still battling hard to get it under control 27 hours after receiving the call.
It is understood that the fire broke out on farmland in the area, with walkers in the Pentlands and residents in areas such as Balerno all alarmed to see the clouds of smoke travelling over the hills and towards the city. Several residents in the city centre even reported smelling smoke on Wednesday evening.
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