RESIDENTS in a village which authorities are trying to evacuate during the Cairngorms wildfire have criticised the emergency response as being like “closing the stable door now that the horse has bolted”.
Those living in homes around Nethy Bridge were told to evacuate as a precaution on Friday night, as the situation around the wildfire at Cairngorms National Park deteriorated.
Changing wind conditions meant that the fire, which has been burning for more than a week, started to spread in a different direction.
Large columns of smoke could be seen near Nethy Bridge on Friday, but on Saturday it was much less visible.
Richard Eccles has been living in Nethy Bridge with his wife Patricia for 33 years, where they have run a guest house.
Speaking to press, they said police came to their house at around 10pm on Friday and presented them with three options – they could either stay, seek accommodation with friends or family elsewhere or go to emergency accommodation at the Macdonald hotel in Aviemore.
They said they decided to stay unless the fire gets considerably closer, which most residents in the village appear to have done.
Eccles said: “We’ve got a camper van and we’re all ready and set to go at a moment’s notice.”
He continued: “If it gets smoky, we’ll go.”
A wedding was due to take place at Castle Roy, which is near the village, but Eccles said this has had to be cancelled as a result of the wildfire evacuations.
He said the Scottish Government’s response had been “poor” and a major incident should have been declared earlier, with military assistance brought in to tackle the fire before it spread.
Eccles said: “It’s a bit like closing the stable door now that the horse has bolted.”
A large number of firefighters and other emergency crews have based themselves in Nethy Bridge while the operation continues.
The grounds of a local school were used for parking emergency vehicles, with the village hall turned into a rest area for teams to take breaks between firefighting.
Some residents brought donations of food and water to show their appreciation.
They included Francis Lake, who runs the Nethy House cafe, and his 21-year-old son Tom, who brought a donation of baked goods from the cafe.
The Lakes decided to leave the village on Friday night but returned on Saturday.
Francis said: “It’s really scary. But you just have to hope it resolves.”
Sandy McCook, chairman of the Nethy Bridge and Vicinity Community Council, said there was a major increase in firefighting units from the SFRS in and around the village, plus multiple wildfire response units.
“I think a lot of people are running on adrenaline,” he said.
“A lot of people are upset, angry and frustrated at the ongoing situation because the Scottish Government said a week ago [on Wednesday] that they had enough resources to deal with it, and they said on Thursday that the fire was contained.
“My argument with that is, if you said the fire was contained and you had enough resources last Wednesday and Thursday, why are we still fighting it 10 days later and it’s still running out of control? It is still not controlled in any way shape or form.”
