SSE admits cable testing caused Girlsta fire 

SSE has confirmed a fire near Girlsta Loch on Friday was caused by one of its cables igniting during testing.

Four fire appliances attended the heather fire after being called to the scene just before 10am.

Local reports circulated that SSE was testing a cable when sparks flew out of the end, causing the hill to go on fire.

The energy giant has since confirmed this was the case.

“As part of our network improvement works in the local area, teams were carrying out cable testing on the Girlsta hillside on Friday morning; during this process, one of the cables being tested caused nearby heather to ignite,” SSE said in a statement.

“As soon as this happened, our teams onsite contacted the local fire service, who attended and extinguished the fire.

“Our operational and safety teams began work immediately on investigating the cause of the fire, with a view to implementing measures to ensure that a similar situation does not occur again in the future.

“And as an extra measure, all planned cable testing on this particular project has been temporarily ceased during our ongoing investigations.”