Satellite images show the mile-wide wildfire tackled by firefighters near Straiton last week.

Four fire engines attended the scene in in Carrick Forest when the alarm was raised at 4.39am on Tuesday, May 5.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze covered around one mile. and was extinguished by 9.17am.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were alerted at 4.39am on Tuesday, May 5 to reports of a wildfire within Carrick Forest near Straiton, South Ayrshire.

“There were no reported casualties and crews left the scene after ensuring the area was made safe.”

Dr Thomas Smith, Assistant Professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics, processed satellite images of the blaze which he said are very rare to get.

He told the Advertiser: “I’m normally a field scientist. Instead of doing that I’ve been staring at satellite images. I wasn’t expecting to see any fires in Scotland.”

He said the image shows a ‘classic cigar shape’ fire, where the blaze has been driven by the wind.

He said: “From space, we can tell it’s in heather or gorse, from the shade of the vegetation, and it looks like it came up against some green agricultural fields which usually stops the fire because of the moisture in the vegetation.”

The image shows a bring yellow line indicating the heat signature of the hottest part of the fire.

The satellite that took the pictures only passes over once every five days.

The plume of smoke was visible on land from as far away as Troon.

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