Glass bottle likely started Arran wildfire - ranger

A park ranger has told the BBC a "devastating" wildfire on the Isle of Arran was likely caused by a glass bottle being discarded amongst litter.

The wildfire - which started last Thursday - caused significant damage in the Glen Rosa area, destroying about 15,000 trees and killing much of the wildlife.

Kate Sampson, senior ranger at Brodick Country Park for the National Trust for Scotland, said dry ground would have likely ignited when sun shone through a discarded glass bottle, focusing heat like a magnifying glass.

BBC Scotland News understands it is too early for the Scottish and Fire Rescue Service to determine the cause of the blaze.

Ms Sampson said she had seen no sign of any campers setting fires or of deliberate vandalism before the wildfire suddenly started up.

She told the BBC's Lunchtime Live programme: "We're fairly certain that it wasn't maliciously started, or people having a fire where they shouldn't have done. We really think it was litter.

"We think it was a glass bottle that started it all. I was in the glen doing a guided walk moments before the fire started and there was nobody there starting a fire or anything like that.

"So it was probably purely litter that started it."

The park ranger estimated around half of Glen Rosa had "gone completely up in black smoke" as a result of the fire.

Access to the popular Goatfell walk had to be temporarily blocked due to public safety risks.

Ms Sampson said: "Lots of people have put in to help with habitat restoration over the past six years, and unfortunately we have lost about 15,000 trees.

"The wildlife itself in the glen has been devastated too. Yesterday I had the grim task of going to have a look at the impact, and I saw many carcasses of animals like adders and slow worms and frogs. It will have a huge impact on the ecology of the glen.

"On one side you'll see trees looking really lovely and you can hear birdsong, and on the other side it's completely black with smoke."

Ms Sampson said the area was slowly returning to normal, with everything once again open, including the popular hillwalks.

However she warned another spell of good weather "would mean more chance of fires" happening again because of tinder-dry land.

The National Trust of Scotland's tree planting plan will resume with a "re-starting programme" event on 26 April.

The Arran fire was one of several to strike Scotland over past weeks, after a lengthy period of dry and warm weather.

A large grass fire in Cumbernauld in Lanarkshire forced the evacuation of a dog kennel and cattery, while several walkers were rescued from Loch Dee in Galloway Forest Park.

Other fires have been reported in Thurso, Aberdeen, the Isle of Bute and on the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh.