Cairngorms Wildfire Burns 12 Days, Worst in Park History
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- The Cairngorms wildfire has burned for 12 days, blackening hectares of moorland and forest in what park chief executive Grant Moir called the worst fire the national park has ever seen.
- Caledonian pinewood forest containing 300-year-old Scots pines was partially claimed by the flames, though most older trees survived thanks to fire breaks urgently bulldozed in the early days.
- Three private helicopters contracted for the response are depositing approximately 750,000 litres of water daily on hotspots, after the UK government confirmed it had no specialist firefighting helicopters to offer despite providing military support.
- Strong winds fanned the blaze last week after authorities initially declared it contained, forcing the evacuation of Nethy Bridge village on Friday night; residents have since been told they can return home.
- Local resident Sandy McCook said the fire could have been contained within two hours of being reported had a government-contracted firefighting helicopter been in place, echoing the Scottish Green party's call for publicly available firefighting aircraft.
- More than 75 firefighters remain on scene in an operation Ian Allsopp of Forestry and Land Scotland described as requiring helicopter water-bombing "for days and days and days" to contain, even with light rain forecast.
Why it matters: The blaze exposes a critical resource gap: Scotland relied on three private helicopters dropping 750,000 litres of water daily, while the UK government offered military support but had no specialist firefighting aircraft. With residents and the Scottish Greens now demanding a permanent government-contracted helicopter fleet, the response shortfall is becoming a concrete policy fight that will outlast the fire.
