Fresh appeal for witnesses after Galloway Dark Sky Observatory 'suspicious' fire

  • Video report by Bruce McKenzie

Police investigating a fire at an observatory in the south of Scotland are desperately appealing for the public's help. 

The Scottish Dark Sky Observatory on the edge of the Galloway Forest went up in flames early on Wednesday morning. The building was completely destroyed and police are treating it as suspicious.

Emergency services were called to the site in Loch Doon in the early hours of Wednesday, 23 June, 2021.

A joint police and fire service investigation has been set up to try to establish the cause. There were no reports of anyone being injured.

The observatory was officially opened in 2012. Credit: ITV Border

Detective Constable Steven Grey from Kilmarnock CID said: "The observatory is run by a charity organisation and the financial impact and damage caused is extremely significant.

"It is vital we establish the full circumstances surrounding what happened and I am appealing to anyone with information to come forward.

"The observatory is in a remote location and I would like to speak to anyone who may have been in the area on Tuesday night, into Wednesday morning. I would also urge any motorists with dash-cams who were travelling through at the time to please check their footage in case they have captured anything which could be of relevance.

"Anyone with information is asked to contact Police Scotland through 101, quoting incident number 0293 of Wednesday, 23 June. Alternatively you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111."

Credit: ITV Border

Sarah-Jane Laing, Chief Executive of Scottish Land & Estates who own the Craigengillan Estate where the observatory is located said: “The fire at the Scottish Dark Sky Observatory is devastating for everyone, particularly the local community, the charity that runs the observatory and Craigengillan Estate.  

"It is dreadful to see what has happened with the fire and we hope more can be understood about the circumstances as soon as possible.”