EIGHT campers were rescued in Galloway Forest Park at the weekend by Galloway Mountain Rescue Team (GMRT) and HM Coastguard Prestwick.
Members of GMRT were already out in the hills on Friday night setting up for the Bruce’s Crown Hill Race before spotting the wildfire toward Buchan Ridge.
After driving to Bruce’s Stone car park to try and get a better view of the fire’s location, they noticed a few cars parked at Bruce’s Stone and immediately became concerned about wild campers in the area. A spokesperson for the team stated: “At 12.20 am a full team call out was put out. The team arrived at Stroan Bridge to meet with police and fire personnel. The police relocated the RV to Glentrool Hive. At the RV, police and a GMRT incident manager inquired about the campers’ location. Police obtained phone numbers and sent out phone finds.
“At approximately 3.30 am, a phone find located two campers north of Little Spear. A hill party deployed and made its way up Kirriereoch to pick up the campers on Little Spear. They were both safely located and evacuated from the hill.”
Meanwhile, HM Coastguard Prestwick search and rescue helicopter located four campers in Loch Valley who were trapped by the growing inferno and two others were located around 10 am on Saturday not far from Bruce’s Stone.
A Coastguard spokesperson stated: “At around 2.30 am 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.”
As the fire spread toward Loch Doon and south of Loch Dee, GMRT deployed their drones to assess different areas, whilst other team members assisted police with alerting residents and campers in the Loch Doon and Clatteringshaws areas.
The control vehicle was also deployed to Loch Doon to assist the police and act as spotters overnight. All team members were safely home by Sunday morning, a spokesperson added: “We would urge anyone heading to the hills over the next week to take care and avoid lighting camp fires or using naked flames.
“It’s an exceptionally dry period of weather we have been having and for the next week it is going to be very dry as well.
“Also, a big thank you to Glentrool Hive and their volunteers for looking after us all. Very much appreciated.”
