Cairngorms Wildfire Burns Into Day 7 as Scotland Relies on 2 Private Helicopters
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 21
Cairngorms Wildfire Burns Into Day 7 as Scotland Relies on 2 Private Helicopters
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jul 21
Summary
Two specialist helicopters joined the Cairngorms wildfire response only after nearly two days, even as the blaze entered its seventh day with more than 100 firefighters on the ground.
Scotland's fire service has no dedicated firefighting aircraft, so aerial support depends on private operators, incident-command approval and landowners or public agencies agreeing to cover the cost.
Skyhook, which is leading the waterbombing effort, said its helicopters can drop up to 1,000 litres at a time but are not funded to stay on permanent wildfire standby and may be tied up on other work.
The delay has revived criticism after last year's 11,000-hectare Dava Moor fire, when helicopter mobilisation was also flagged as a problem, prompting calls for publicly available aircraft during wildfire season.
Scottish ministers say fire chiefs had the resources needed for the Cairngorms blaze, but the week-long fire has sharpened debate over whether climate-driven wildfire risk now requires a dedicated aerial capability.