A kayaking couple were left “gobsmacked at the stupidity” of a woman and her partner who had lit open fires on St Herbert’s Island on Derwentwater last Tuesday during the height of the hot weather.
Pat Walker and her husband Stan were out for a leisurely paddle on the lake and were alerted to the fires by the sound of wood being chopped. Mrs Walker confronted the woman who with her partner had set up a “big” fire surrounded by stones and another within a bower of fallen trees and vegetation, inches away from a tall oak.
“I screamed at her in no uncertain terms and said: “What on earth are you doing? This is illegal and how stupid and irresponsible can you be?”
The woman replied that she was teaching her sons how to light a fire.
“I thought: Are you joking? You are on an island that is as dry as a tinder box and one spark and the whole island could go up. But she was absolutely adamant that she was in the right.”
Mrs Walker contacted the emergency services but the operator only picked up on the word Derwentwater and fire crews from Keswick responded unaware that the fires were on the island after making it to the Derwentwater Marina landings. Once the emergency services had been contacted the lady and her partner put out the fires by ferrying water from the lake in their flasks to douse the flames.
Since the incident Mrs Walker has been trying to discover who is responsible if there is a fire on the island. She has learned that the fire service does not have a boat to deal with such emergencies and it is not the responsibility of the Lake District National Park Authority rangers.
She has also learned that the island is owned by the National Trust but has not been able to speak with anyone from the charity.
The Keswick Reminder approached the National Trust for a comment.
