Explosion narrowly avoided in remote mountain hut
Corrour Bothy is used as a shelter by hillwalkers and climbers
At a glance
An explosion involving a gas camping stove has been narrowly avoided inside a mountain hut
The accident happened last week at Corrour Bothy in the Cairngorms
The Mountain Bothies Association said the stove had not been properly screwed into the gas canister and "flared up"
Two association volunteers in the bothy at the time managed to throw it outside
- Published
Five people sheltering at a remote hillwalkers' bothy had a lucky escape after a gas camping stove "blazed out of control" inside the hut.
The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) said an explosion - and injuries - were narrowly avoided within the small interior of Corrour Bothy in the Cairngorms.
It said two of its volunteers happened to be among those at the shelter and they managed to throw the stove outside where it "exploded in a surprisingly large fireball" a few seconds later.
The MBA has issued safety advice to bothy visitors following last Wednesday's accident.
Corrour Bothy is a mountain shelter about half way along the 19-mile (30km) Lairig Ghru, a mountain pass running between Deeside, near Braemar, and Speyside, near Aviemore.
It is maintained by the MBA.
The association said last week's near-miss happened because the stove had not been properly screwed into the gas canister.
Once lit, the stove flared up and it was not possible to turn it off.
The MBA said its two experienced volunteers placed a fire blanket over the stove and then used a fire glove to throw it outside.
The accident happened at the bothy last week
An MBA spokesman said: "It's easy to be complacent about using stoves in bothies, but it's important to remember that you're using highly flammable fuel in buildings that usually contain a lot of wood.
"And some types of stove - such as the gas stove involved here - are potential bombs.
"Had this one exploded inside the small space of the bothy the injuries could have been horrendous - and in a remote location where summoning help could have taken several hours."
The spokesman said bothies were a tremendous resource, particularly in bad weather.
He added: "We all cook inside them, but this incident underlines that we need to be very conscious of what we are doing at all times."
- Published31 May 2022
