Major blaze near historic castle grounds reignites for third time

Stornoway fire: Crews have been called out again to a blaze near Lews Castle.MRCC Stornoway/CHC Helicopter

A major blaze at woodlands close to the historic Lews Castle in Stornoway has flared up again.

Fire crews were called out to the Isle of Lewis blaze, which is understood to be near to Creed Lodge car park, at around 2.25pm on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue said three pumps had been sent to the scene and that is was in a slightly different area to two previous fires close to the castle.

She added that around 23 firefighters were working at the scene.

A spokesman for Northern Constabulary said the main A859 road out of Stornoway was still open but that minor roads in the area may be affected by smoke.

Last Thursday around 50 firefighters battled the blaze at Arnish close to the castle grounds. The week before around 2000 trees had damaged by a blaze in the same area.

The fires come after the Western Isles has recorded one of its driest periods of weather in recent years with just 4% of normal June rainfall. It was understood that due to the good weather the heat from the previous fires had remained in the ground and the fire had restarted.

No one has been injured in the blazes.


View Locator map for fire in the grounds of Lews Castle, Stornoway in a larger map

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