Cairngorm residents say wildfire response 'too slow'

People living in the Cairngorms have criticised the handling of a wildfire that has been burning for 10 days.

Residents were evacuated on Friday night after a change in weather sparked fears the blaze was moving towards the village of Nethy Bridge and a major incident was declared.

But locals said the move came too late, and that the Scottish government had been slow in scaling up the response to the incident.

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Neil Gray, said: "Throughout this significant incident, the government and the emergency services have given everything to ensuring that the fire is being addressed."

The fire was declared a major incident on Friday, but Nethy Bridge community council leader Sandy McCook said they had been calling for that "for over a week now".

He said: "It was only at 22:00 last night that that was decided. The hotel dining room was taken over at 04:00 this morning by the fire service."

McCook said there were about 20 fire appliances in the village, two helicopters in the skies above and "bulldozers tearing the heart out of Abernethie Forest", which he described as a "very necessary evil", but one that "could have been stopped".

He said: "We had the opportunity to get this fire out last Wednesday, the day it happened.

"It was first reported it was the size of a small car. Within an hour, it was the size of a tennis court."

He added that there had not been enough communication from the government with "those of us that know the ground" and that too many decisions had been "taken from Edinburgh".

McCook said people had been doing 24-hour days on the hillside, and people had come from across the country to help, which he said showed the "resilience of the Highlands."

Local resident John McGlinchey said he decided to leave his property at about 16:00 on Friday when he could see flames from his front door.

He said: "The evacuation plan didn't really start until about 20:00 and then my doorbell didn't ring until near 00:00 at night to then request for people to evacuate.

"Fortunately enough we were long gone by that point."

He added that he feared that "the entire village would be lost" and said it was an "absolute godsend" that the rains came to help dampen the flames.

He was concerned though that the flames could re-ignite, and said a fixed-wing aircraft was required to deliver a greater volume of water to the hillside.

McGlinchey also expressed frustration that a major incident was not declared sooner.

"Even though people might think it was under control, you should always have precautions in place, you should always have contingencies in place - and both of those things weren't put in place."

He said although he felt there were "good intentions" behind the evacuation, but it was "just not organised properly".

"That's where we're needing outside intervention and not just the local authority as much as they're doing their best."

Evacuated residents are being directed to a dedicated respite centre at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort.

McGlinchey added that some evacuated residents had had to sleep on the floor at the hotel because of a lack of rooms.

Neil Gray said that decisions on how best to tackle the fire were taken on an "evidence basis" and the government "takes its lead from the emergency services in terms of our response."

He said: "We've been very clear that all resources that could possibly be committed are being committed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Gray added that the government had also approached the military to ask for additional helicopters having "exhausted all commercially available helicopters" but had not yet had a response.

The cabinet secretary continued that two helicopters were available on Saturay, and further helicopters would be available on Sunday.

He said these were coming from the commercial sector, and were covered by a contract that was led by the government body NatureScot.

The fire broke out near the village of Glenmore on Wednesday last week, and led to residents and campsites being evacuated.

It covered about six square kilometres of heather and small trees at its height, with more than 500 firefighters tackling it.

In an update on Saturday morning, Police Scotland said residents in a small area of properties north-west of Dorback Lodge (Lain Thatchan) had also been evacuated as a precaution.

The Scottish government said a fire break around the village was established overnight, and new breaks are being constructed as Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) deploys additional resources.

A smoke advisory is also in place for Tomintoul, where residents have been advised to keep windows and doors closed due to smoke from the wildfire.

"If you are affected by smoke, stay indoors where possible, keep windows and doors closed, and avoid strenuous outdoor activity," SFRS said.