Dozens of households in Drumnadrochit were left without power yesterday as firefighters from across the region spent more than five hours battling a raging wildfire.
Around 70 properties were left without power for almost an hour after a gorse fire in the Tychat area near Temple Pier significantly damaged an electrical pole.
The woodland blaze ignited shortly before noon in the grounds at the rear of a property in the area, before spreading rapidly through the woods.
Scottish energy provider SSE confirmed two properties in the village looked set to remain without power until around 6pm as engineers continued to rectify the problem alongside the emergency services.
A spokeswoman from Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSE) said: “Around 70 customers came off supply for under an hour. They are all back on now except two with the resolution time around 6pm. We are currently working with emergency services to get them back up and running when it is safe to do so.”
An employee at the Loch Ness Centre and Exhibition added: “Our next door neighbours have been affected by it. The lady from the house next door came in and asked if we had had power cuts as she has had two but so far so good for us.”
Meanwhile; at the scene, just one mile east of Drumnadrochit, Firefighters from both Inverness and Fort Augustus continued to dampen down the smouldering remains of the blaze until around 5pm.
The fire service first received reports of the burning inferno at 11.56am before sending two appliances from the Highland Capital and one from Fort Augustus.
Three hose reel jets and firefighters with two pieces of breathing apparatus were used to extinguish the fire, using water from Loch Ness.
A spokeswoman from the fire service said windy conditions had made the operation for crews quite difficult, adding: “It’s quite windy at the moment so they will be there for some time as the wind is making it more difficult to bring the fire under control.”
Officers from Police Scotland were also at the scene to assist emergency services in their efforts.
A police spokesman said: “We received a call at 11.56am. There have been no reports of injuries.”
