Scotland’s Justice Secretary, Neil Gray, rejected an offer of UK military assistance to combat a major wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park.
Following a request by Scotland’s Justice Secretary, the UK Government offered military support to tackle the Cairngorms wildfire.
The UK Government said it would provide military helicopters for heavy lifting, along with support from stand-by armed forces.
This offer was denied by Scotland’s First Minister and Justice Secretary as it did not include specific waterbombing helicopters that they had requested.
The fire broke out near the village of Glenmore on July 15, and some village residents were evacuated during this time as a precaution.
The wildfire covered about twenty-five square kilometres with over 500 firefighters involved and burned for just over a month, raising questions about the Scottish government’s response to the fire
Chairman of Nethy Bridge Community Council, Sandy McCook, accused the Scottish Government of “dithering” in its response to the wildfire. He said: “I’m very disappointed in the Scottish Government’s response in general”.
However a great local effort stood in contrast as Committee Chair, Cllr Russell Jones said: “In particular, I want to put on record our thanks to the community of Nethy Bridge … (their help) was an outstanding example of a community coming together in a time of crisis”.
The Scottish Chief Fire Officer believes Scotland must place greater emphasis on prevention and preparedness, warning that wildfires are an increasing and evolving threat that cannot be addressed through emergency response alone.
Chief Officer Stuart Stevens said: “If we are serious about protecting lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, our natural environment and the resilience of our nation, we must act now – together, with purpose, and with a long-term commitment to prevention, as well as response”.
Chief Officer Stevens praised the firefighters who attended the Cairngorm wildfire, many of whom were from on-call stations and carried out their duties with ongoing support.
He mentioned that he was “indebted” to their commitment and expressed his gratitude to the communities throughout the Cairngorms for the generous support they provided to emergency responders and partner agencies during the incident.
It remains to be seen, though, what reforms will be made and what lessons will be learned in the wake of the wildfire.
Featured Image Credit: Forestry and Land Scotland
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