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A ravaging wildfire has spread panic across Gruinard Island, off the northwest coast of Scotland. The island is known as Anthrax Island because of a defence operation that saw sheep exposed
to the lethal bacteria during trials to find a way of harnessing it as a weapon. The pictures and videos currently doing rounds across the internet depicted the flames spouting on the island
on Saturday night, with a large plume of smoke rising from the fire. The island, which remained uninhabited, was finally classified as anthrax-free in the year 1990 following a campaign by
a group known as the Dark Harvest commandos to emphasise the contamination of the soil during the 1980s, according to reports by _STV News_. However, it was believed that the incident
transpired on Saturday night while the witnesses named it an 'apocalyptic' wildfire as flames devastated a significant portion of Gruinard Island. The images were shared on
Twitter by Gairloch Marine Wildlife under the caption, "Those that visit regularly Gruinard Island (Anthrax Island) will be a familiar sight but it’s never looked like this before!
Muirburn or Arson? We don’t know yet, but sad and destructive for the wildlife either way!" The post featured multiple images of the ravaging fire. According to _STV News_, on Saturday
night, the sky above Gruinard Island was lit up by flames. The two witnesses, Nessie Gearing and her mother Kate saw the light in the sky from their home in Aultbea. “We were at home and saw
an orange glow in the sky and thought we’d investigate,” Kate told STV News. “Driving up to it was just apocalyptic,” Nessie said, reported _STV News_. Kate and Nessie said they could hear
birds “screaming” in despair as they stood on the shore across from the island. “It was horrible. I’ve never seen anybody on the island, nobody ever goes to it, nobody wants to go on it,”
Kate added, according to _STV News_. Gruinard Island was contaminated by a test use of anthrax spores by the United Kingdom and the United State and as a result, the island remained
uninhabitable for decades. Notably, Anthrax is lethal, particularly when inhaled, and kills in almost all cases even if the victim receives medical treatment. The Anthrax spores can remain
active for decades and it took years before the island was finally decontaminated. Meanwhile, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said because the island is uninhabited the fire would not
fall under its remit. However, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson conveyed that “Gruinard Island was decontaminated and deemed safe in 1987". “As part of the sale of the island in 1990,
the MoD agreed to undertake further work, if necessary, within 150 years of its sale", a spokesperson for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency added, reported _STV News_. The
fire on Gruinard Island follows a wildfire warning across parts of the country from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Fire authorities said the risk was “very high” as temperatures have
reached the high teens.