Justice Secretary Neil Gray has stated that emergency services in the Cairngorms had "all resources necessary" to tackle the wildfires, amid criticism of the Scottish Government's response. The Scottish Government will also be reviewing its approach to wildfires, Gray said.
UK military support offer
The UK Government offered military assistance, including Chinook helicopters and support from stand-by battalions, after a request by Gray. However, First Minister John Swinney said the offer was unnecessary, noting that the Scottish Government had requested aerial water-dropping capacity, which the Ministry of Defence does not possess.
Swinney told the Press Association: "The Scottish Government asked the UK Government for help in one particular issue, which was about aerial firefighting capacity – that is, to drop water from helicopters onto the fire. The UK Government does not have such resources – that’s the only thing that we need, we don’t need any other help.
“We’ve got all the help we need on the ground, but we just needed additional aerial water spreading capacity and the UK Government doesn’t have that – I’m not rejecting anything, they just haven’t got anything to offer us."
Gray's assurances
Gray said he had been assured by emergency services that they had all necessary resources throughout the incident. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, he said: "I would say that throughout this process, I have been given assurances from emergency services that they have all the resources necessary from the earliest point in the incident, and the only element that was requested additionally is aerial water bombing capable support over the weekend.
“That’s why we made the request to the UK Government for military assistance specifically for that element, and we are now aware that the UK does not have that military capability, and so we could not get further support or assistance.
“But I want to provide reassurance to residents in the vicinity that at all points we have had all the resource necessary on the ground, deployable and available in order to tackle this place."
Local criticism
Residents of Nethy Bridge, evacuated on Friday night, were allowed to return on Sunday. Police Scotland stopped treating the fire as a major incident on Saturday night.
Sandy McCook, chairman of the Nethy Bridge and vicinity community council, criticised the government's response: "I’m very disappointed in the Scottish Government’s response in general to this.
“Had we asked for UK resources a week ago, when this fire was clearly running away from the fire and rescue service, regardless of what was said by Neil Gray that they had sufficient equipment, etc, we wouldn’t have been still here fighting it now if that had been the case."
Learning from wildfires
Gray said the Scottish Government would learn from the Cairngorms wildfires and others across the UK and Europe, noting fires in Derbyshire, the Peak District, Wales, France, and Spain. "We are needing to deal with a different dynamic here. Of course, the Scottish Government is reviewing … our resources and our response to wildfires, and we will certainly use learning from what has happened in the Cairngorms to do so," he said.
Firefighting operations continue
As of late Monday, around 70 firefighters remain at the scene with nine appliances, specialist resources, and tactical advisers. An estimated 25 square kilometres have been affected. The public has been asked to avoid the area and residents to keep windows closed.
SFRS deputy assistant chief officer Michael Humphreys said: "The progress made over the past 24 hours has been encouraging. However, we cannot afford to be complacent, and we remain fully committed to this incident with significant resources in attendance from ourselves and partners.
“The current plan is to take full advantage of the current conditions to go in to key areas and aggressively tackle the burning and prevent further opportunities for the fire to spread.
“This includes active firefighting with water, beaters and waterbombing, but also the continued creation of firebreaks which have been effective throughout the incident in preventing spread.
“This remains a complex and fluid incident and we still anticipate that we will be in attendance for some time, alongside partners and volunteers from all agencies involved."
He added: "I would once again like to thank our firefighters and staff, partner agencies, volunteers and local communities for their continued support, resilience and co-operation throughout this prolonged incident."
