THE Scottish Government has been warned that wildfires are “becoming a danger to human life” as they leave “stretched” firefighters unable to attend other incidents.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association (SGA), which have helped battle wildfires, said that a “round-the-clock effort” from gamekeepers and land managers, working with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), helped prevent two fires from merging into one larger blaze – a move which would have been a “nightmare scenario”.
The SGA spoke out as one veteran Highlands MSP said the wildfires “raging” across the area were “said by many locals to be the worst in our history”.
His plea came after gamekeepers from across Scotland joined in efforts on both Saturday and Sunday to tackle three wildfires in the Cairngorms National Park.
Now the SGA is calling on the Scottish Government’s nature advisers at NatureScot to visit the sites of these blazes, to see first hand their impact and the efforts required to tackle them.
Speaking about the blazes, an SGA spokesperson 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.”
They insisted: “We need to have the Scottish Government and their advisers out now to see what is happening, while these fires are ongoing.”
The SGA also raised concerns about future controls on muirburn – the controlled burning of vegetation on peatland.
Gamekeepers say this practice prevents the build-up of combustible materials, but fear it in future this could be “severely restricted”.
The SGA spokesperson 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.”
The spokesperson added that muirburn was a way to “control the fuel” that can burn in wildfires, saying that this “allows those fighting the fires to get a chance to catch it”.
They stated: “The Fire Service have 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.”
Meanwhile, Inverness and Nairn MSP Ewing said: “Wildfires presently raging in the highlands in my constituency and beyond are said by many locals to be the worst in our history.”
Repeating his plea, Ewing insisted that monitoring the situation was “not enough”, adding that efforts to tackle fires on Sunday had been “hampered through lack of helicopters”.
The former Scottish Government minister, who is now an independent MSP, insisted: “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.”
His comments came as firefighters were spending a third day battling three wildfires in the Highlands, tackling blazes in the Nairn, Dava and Lochindorb area north of Carrbridge after the alarm was raised on Saturday June 28.
Three fire appliances remained at the scene near Lochindorb on Monday, where the fire was more than three-and-a-half miles long.
Two fire crews were tackling the blaze at Dava while two were at the scene near Nairn, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said.
SFRS said: “If you live in the area and smoke is visible, keep your windows and doors closed.”
Several roads in the Carrbridge and Dava areas were closed while emergency services dealt with the incidents.
Police advised people to avoid the area if possible.
The Scottish Government and NatureScot have both been contacted for comment.
