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Helicopter dumps water on wildfire burning for 24 hours

Richard Madgin Smoke rising from a hill in the background on a warm, sunny day. There is green woodland in the foreground. Richard Madgin
Firefighters tackled the blaze on Craiglee hill

A helicopter has been brought in to dump water on a wildfire in Dumfries and Galloway which has been burning since Thursday afternoon.

Firefighters were still tackling the blaze in the Galloway Forest Park near Newton Stewart early on Friday evening.

One local man told BBC Scotland News that he saw a helicopter dropping water on the blaze and "half the hill looked like charcoal".

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said they had one appliance at the scene and the helicopter had been brought in by the landowner.

She said they were initially called to the scene at 16:14 on Thursday. The blaze covers the Craiglee hill area.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Graphic illustrating the risk of wildfires across Scotland. It says there is a very high to extreme risk of wildfires in all areas of Scotland.Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Richard Madgin, from Newton Stewart, said he spotted the fire as he was heading to Loch Dee to go fishing.

He spoke to a firefighter who warned him to leave as the helicopter was on its way to drop water.

Earlier this week the fire service warned of an "extreme risk" of wildfires across all areas of Scotland.

It is the third wildfire warning issued by the SFRS this year as the weather gets warmer and drier.