Police Scotland launches appeal for witnesses after confirming that new fires at Boleskine House are being treated as deliberate; four Scottish Fire and Rescue Service crews from Foyers and Inverness extinguished the two blazes

POLICE have confirmed that they are treating new fires at the ruin of Boleskine House as wilful fire raising.

Officers have launched an appeal for witnesses who may have seen anything suspicious prior to the deliberate fires at the ruined buildings on Wednesday afternoon.

Fire crews from Foyers and Inverness were called to the scene after the alarm was raised at around 3.30pm.

Blazes were reported at two buildings on the site, including the derelict main house and at an external outbuilding.

The fires were extinguished by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service by around 6.32pm.

Nobody was injured, although damage was caused to the buildings.

The Friends of Boleskine House later posted on Facebook that the coach house had been saved but what was left of the roof of Boleskine House had collapsed.

Police Detective Inspector Eddie Ross said: "We are working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to establish the full circumstances.

"Our enquiries are at an early stage, although our initial assessment is that this fire was started deliberately.

"We would encourage anybody may have seen any activity around Boleskine House or nearby to come forward as soon as they can.

"It should go without saying that deliberately setting fires is incredibly dangerous as you have limited control over how they may develop.

"Anyone with information about this fire can contact Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident 3619 of July 31, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

Boleskine House, which for a time was owned by rock superstar Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, was previously badly damaged by a blaze in 2015. The ruin, near Foyers, was sold earlier this year to an overseas buyer.

The Boleskine House Foundation, set up to try and restore the historic mansion, said they believe this week's fires were a “criminal act of vandalism”.

Notorious occultist Aleister Crowley was a past owner of the building.

He was also an experienced climber and was part of an ill-fated attempt to scale K2, in modern day Pakistan, in 1902.

Jimmy Page bought Boleskine House in the 1970s because of the Crowley connection, before later selling it.

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