Major wildfire breaks out on Rum on the Inner Hebrides

Firefighters were forced to use helicopters to try and control a major wildfire which broke out on the Isle of Rum on Wednesday.

The blaze broke out on the Isle of Rum on Wednesday night. Picture: Sean Morris

The massive blaze is reported to have begun on Wednesday evening and quickly spread across huge swathes of the Black Cuillin on the Inner Hebridean island.

Worried about the effect the fire could have had on their study area and research buildings, the Rum Deer Research group posted pictures of the fire on their account before tweeting this morning (Thursday) that the fire “seemed to be out after overnight rain”, they posted: “Stopped just above trees in Kilmory Glen. Buildings survived. Sgaorishal and Minishal hills pretty devastated.”

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman told STV News: “We were called to the area yesterday but left as there was no immediate risk to anyone.

“Scottish National Heritage has arranged helicopters to fly over the fire and water bomb it.

“We will take boats across today to assess the situation again.”