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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Fionnuala Boyle & Gemma Ryder

Crews battling to control wildfire 20 hours after blaze takes hold in Scots woodland

A huge wildfire has been raging in Moray for over 20 hours sparking an emergency response.

Mercy crews raced to the scene near Ordiequish Road in Fochabers after the alarm was raised shortly after 11.30am on Monday morning.

The inferno is affecting an area of forestry near the road, with hero firefighters still working to battle the ferocious blaze.

Smoke fills the sky as crews remain on site (Fochabers Fire Station)

Crews from Fochabers, Rothes and Keith have been on site, and a boat team and helicopters were deployed in a bid to extinguish the worst of the flames and ferry workers over to the area.

Knapsacks, beaters and water carriers were used throughout the day, with the fire covering around 50 acres of land.

Photos taken at the scene show a section of the woodland being engulfed in furious orange flames, while grey smoke billows across the village.

Earth and trees also appear to have been badly charred.

The blaze is taking place in woodland in Fochabers, Moray (Fochabers Fire Station)

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service have confirmed to the Record on Tuesday morning that two appliances remain in attendance.

Crews left the scene for a short while at around 1.50am during nightfall and were back to dampen down hotspots at 5am.

There are currently no reports of people in danger.

A spokesperson previously said: "We got a call at 11.34am to a fire in the open and we have been there all that time.

"Several pieces of equipment are in use at the moment to extinguish the fire - back packs which have got sprayers inside them and there was a helicopter there water bombing.

"The helicopter was doing most of the extinguishing.

There has been a large effort from crews to extinguish the flames (Fochabers Fire Station)

"The incident is taking place in a wooded area, southwest of Fochabers.

"Crews have come from Fochabers and the surrounding areas including Buckie, Dufftown and Elgin.

"There are no reported injuries."

A spokesperson for Fochabers Fire Station said: "Crew were called out this morning at 11.34am to reports of a fire in woodland beside Ordiquish Earth pillars view point.

"On arrival CC Smith made a quick decision to redeploy to the other side of the Spey and the crew made their way to Beat 3 beside Burnside of Dipple Farm.

"Unable to access the fire and with the fire taking hold, CC Smith requested extra resources, the SRT teams from Elgin and Inverness were deployed and attended along with a helicopter to water bomb the area.

"Crew were relieved at 4pm and crews remain on scene and will do for sometime to make sure the fire is fully extinguished."

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