Scotland wildfires: lives ‘at risk' as crews fight raging fires
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA) said that a 'round-the-clock effort' from gamekeepers and land managers, working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, helped to prevent two fires from merging into one larger blaze, which would have been a 'nightmare scenario'.
The SGA's statement came as a veteran Highlands MSP said the wildfires raging across the area were believed 'by many locals to be the worst in our history'.
Fergus Ewing said he had urged the government to convene its emergency response committee, the Scottish Government Resilience Room (SGoRR).
His plea came after gamekeepers from across Scotland joined in efforts on Saturday and Sunday to tackle three wildfires in the Cairngorms National Park.
The SGA called on the Scottish government's advisers at NatureScot to visit the sites of these fires to see first-hand their impact and the efforts required to tackle them. It said: 'This is becoming a danger to human life because firefighters are becoming so stretched dealing with wildfires that they don't have the resources to attend other fires.
'We need to have the Scottish government and their advisers out now to see what is happening, while these fires are ongoing.'
The association also raised concerns about future controls on muirburn — the controlled burning of vegetation on peatland.
Gamekeepers said this practice prevented the build-up of combustible materials, but feared it could be severely restricted in the future.
An SGA spokesman said: 'We are about to introduce new legislation in Scotland which will severely restrict controlled muirburning while we are letting huge fuel loads build up across the country in planting schemes and rewilding areas.'
He said that muirburn was a way to 'control the fuel' that could burn in wildfires and that this 'allows those fighting the fires to get a chance to catch it'.
He added: 'The fire service has been brilliant, working closely with gamekeepers and land managers, allowing them to back-burn to prevent flare-ups. The team-working has been great and the police have really helped. But the fire service can't be everywhere.
'At the moment, with the policies we have in Scotland, we are not protecting anything.'
Ewing, the MSP for Inverness & Nairn, said: 'Wildfires presently raging in the Highlands in my constituency and beyond are said by many locals to be the worst in our history.'
He urged ministers to convene SGoRR to 'co-ordinate the response to what is beyond question an emergency'.
Ewing insisted that monitoring alone was 'not enough', adding that efforts to tackle fires on Sunday had been 'hampered through lack of helicopters'.
He said: 'More help is urgently needed. That help must be procured and ordered now without delay. SGoRR should therefore, in my view, be convened without delay.'
Firefighters on Monday spent a third day battling three wildfires in the Highlands, in the Nairn, Dava and Lochindorb areas north of Carrbridge, after the alarm was raised on Saturday.
Three fire appliances remained at the scene near Lochindorb, where the blaze was nearly four miles long. Two crews were tackling the flames at Dava while a further two were at the scene near Nairn, the SFRS said.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said on Monday night it was in attendance at several wildfire incidents from Carrbridge in Highland to Dallas, outside Forres in Moray. A number of road closures were in place.
Area Commander Michael Humphreys, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services wildfire lead, said: 'Due to strong winds, a significant plume of smoke is spreading into nearby residential areas. If you can see the smoke, please make sure your windows and doors are closed.'
He appealed to the public not to light fires, stoves or barbecues, adding: 'Leaving litter behind, or dropping cigarettes hugely increases the risk of wildfires.
'I would like to thank all of our firefighters who have attended incidents throughout the area across the weekend and into today.'
The Scottish government and NatureScot were contacted for comment.
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