A PAIR of volunteers have been dubbed heroes after discovering a fire in Calais Muir Woods on Sunday.

Struan O'Keefe, 22, had smelled smoke on his way to work with Duloch in Bloom, a gardening initiative near the area.

He and Michael Taylor, 28, who also takes part in the group, then took it upon themselves to investigate and were forced to call emergency services when they found a smouldering tree trunk.

"In my mind I thought it might break out in flames, I spoke to my friend, I've known him since high school, and called the emergency number," Struan said.

"A member of the public was walking by with her dogs and helped me speak to them."

Struan said firefighters arrived just minutes later to extinguish the flames and that he and Michael helped to guide them to the right spot.

"We met them and told them where it was and they checked it out," he said.

"When I was little I liked fire engines, I have been living in Dunfermline for so many years and that's the first time I have had to call."

Struan joined the group nearly three years ago and has been working on weeding, cutting back grass, and planting bulbs ever since.

Fires have been an issue in the area previously, with Jude Rae, from the Calais Woods Wombles, warning in June that even small occurrences could become dangerous.

She cautioned that they could continue to smoulder for hours after being extinguished as the peat underneath the earth continues to burn.