Firefighters and a farmer teamed up this weekend to tackle yet another wildfire blaze.
An area of scrub land on a hillside along the A97 Rhynie to Lumsden stretch caught fire on Saturday.
Crews rushed to the scene in the afternoon to tackle the blaze which was ripping across the land and were helped by a local farmer.
An onlooker said: “It appeared to be a bush fire between Rhynie and Lumsden on the A97 which happened around about 3pm.
“It’s a hillside in the middle of nowhere.
“A big area of scrub ground on the hillside was burned and the flames were a fair size in some parts.
“I could see two fire trucks – one of them seemed to be going back and forth to Rhynie and the fire.
“There was also a farmer pouring water from the back of a tank onto the flames.
“There were about 10 or 15 firefighters there when I was watching.”
Last year the Press and Journal revealed that the number of grass and woodland fires quadrupled in Scotland in 2018.
There were more than six blazes a day during June and July in 2018, with north and north-east crews tackling more than 2,500 during the two months.
Particular hot spots included Moray and the Highlands in 2019 with large fires blighting many areas.
The 2017 total was around 600 causing fire chiefs to issue advice on staying safe outdoors.
