Fire Hut - Aultmore Forest, Morayshire
Photograph courtesy of Frank Calder, Enzie.
Frank Calder, in person, up in the Fire Hut on Adie Hill, Aultmore Forest. A long lonely job often on cold but dry windy days. Because forests in those days consisted of very large areas of young trees all at a fire vulnerable stage, fire was a very significant hazard and risk.
Main communication system would have been old ex army field telephones to forest office but by this time radios were beginning to appear in Morayshire.
Early detection was key to easier control to any fire that started and people were sent up to fire huts to watch normally in dry periods during the spring time before the grass 'greened up' after which the hazards decreased. Long hot dry summers raised the fire risks also. People were normally on duty in the huts by 10.00am and then sometimes well into the evening. As a dry period lengthened the visibility usually decreased and it became much more difficult to detect smoke or its location.
Groups: Forestry Areas, Forestry in Action, Northeast Scotland