Fathers and sons rescued from camp sites torched by devastating wildfire in Galloway Forest

Two families were among campers rescued from torched sites in Galloway Forest after a devastating wildfire.

Bruce Marbrow and his son Jack, 13, travelled from Yorkshire for a trip with friend Scott Rayner and his son Frankie, 13, to camp in the Dumfries and Galloway park on Friday.

When they saw smoke in the distance, the campers attributed it to the controlled burning of heather, not realising the flames were from a wildfire, the Scotsman newspaper reported.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it was alerted to a fire spreading across a large area of grass north of Loch Dee, at about 4pm on Thursday.

However, at midnight on Friday, the campers saw flames getting closer.

Mr Marbrow told the Scotsman: “By midnight, the fire was really raging down the side of the hill where we were. At about 1am, we thought ‘what do we do? Do we try and walk off the hill?’. We decided to stay up until daybreak.

“The fire was about 20 metres away from where we were camped. It was a proper inferno on the side of the hill.

“Never in a million years did we think the smoke we had seen in the distance would be a wildfire like this.”

At about 3am, the four campers heard a helicopter overhead, however it departed without spotting them, the Scotsman reported. It returned around 4am and rescued the stricken campers.

Emergency services began the search after spotting Mr Marbrow’s car parked on Friday evening.

Police made contact with Mr Marbrow’s wife, Fernanda, in East Yorkshire, and she advised them of an area “pin” which her husband had sent before they left.

A Coastguard spokesperson said: “At around 2.30am on Saturday, the HM Coastguard search and rescue helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft were sent to search the area for potential campers.

“Six people were located by the helicopter and rescued from the area of the fire. They were transferred into the care of Police Scotland.”

Torched camp sites in Galloway Forest. Galloway MRT

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service previously warned there was a “very high” to “extreme” risk of wildfire across Scotland from Wednesday, April 2, until Monday, April 7, amid a spell of dry and sunny weather.

Police Scotland said on Monday afternoon: “Emergency services are continuing to tackle wildfires in the Galloway Forest Park area.

“A number of areas are affected, including Merrick, Millmore and Macaterick.

“Members of the public are reminded to avoid the area while this is ongoing.”

Galloway MRT posted images on Wednesday from the scene showing the aftermath of the fire having torched large parts of the forest.

Volunteers said they searched for campsites and found one intact – save for a single melted fishing rod.

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One fire appliance remains at Galloway Forest Park near Glentrool in Dumfries and Galloway where a fire had been burning since Thursday.

Galloway MRT said: “Last night, a team of seven departed from Bruces Stone, Glentrool, heading towards the Loch Valley and Loch Neldricken area.

“Following recent wildfires, several families who had been camping around the lochs were forced to evacuate, leaving their belongings behind.

“We were made aware of three possible camp locations, the furthest being a challenging four-mile walk across terrain that, as far as the eye could see, had been scorched by fire.

“Upon reaching the first location, we were met with an unexpected sight — camp one was still standing. Aside from a single melted fishing rod, everything remained intact.

“The fire had completely surrounded the tents but, remarkably, left them untouched.

“Efforts continued to locate the remaining two camps. Unfortunately, despite extensive searching, nothing was found.”