Residents of the Cairngorms have voiced significant frustration regarding the management of a wildfire that has persisted for 10 days. Although a major incident was officially declared on Friday night following a shift in weather conditions that threatened Nethy Bridge, locals argue this action was overdue.
Sandy McCook, head of the Nethy Bridge community council, stated that the declaration should have happened much sooner, noting that the community had been requesting it for over a week. While acknowledging the hard work of firefighters and local volunteers, McCook claimed the government failed to sufficiently utilize local knowledge, preferring to issue directives from Edinburgh.
Resident John McGlinchey shared similar grievances, describing the evacuation process as disorganized. He noted that despite seeing flames from his home at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, the official notification to leave did not arrive until midnight. McGlinchey emphasized that better contingency planning is essential to prevent such situations in the future.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Neil Gray defended the official response, stating that decisions are based on evidence and coordinated with emergency services. He confirmed that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has deployed all available resources and that additional commercial helicopters have been secured to combat the blaze, which has affected roughly six square kilometers of land.
