Residents in the remote village of Nethy Bridge, in the Scottish Highlands, are furious following wildfire evacuation orders and ‘apocalyptic’ plumes of smoke from a nearby blaze
Residents have spoken of their anger after being told to flee an “apocalyptic” wildfire in Scotland – with some ordered to leave their pets behind as huge plumes of smoke engulf the area.
The wildfire has been raging through the Cairngorms National Park this week, with residents in the Highlands village of Nethy Bridge describing seeing enormous clouds of smoke before they were evacuated.
More than 500 firefighters have been battling the blaze for the past 10 days, forcing the evacuation of homes in the remote region.
Sandy McCook, chairman of the Nethy Bridge and Vicinity Community Council, said residents of the Cairngorms village have been left “upset, angry and frustrated” after seeing large plumes of smoke from the wildfire on Friday before they were evacuated. “Apocalyptic is the word for the pall of smoke that was on the go yesterday,” Mr McCook said.
The smoke has changed direction, and on Saturday at midday he said it was blowing towards Aberdeenshire and the North Sea, but the flames were still “very plain to see” from the outskirts of Nethy Bridge.
Duncan Ferguson, a resident in Glenmore near Aviemore, said police visited his home last Wednesday and told residents to “leave your pets and go”.
He said the fire could become severe and affect property unless it was contained quickly. “It’s going to be bad, it’s going to be major unless they get hold of it. It’s heathland at the minute, but it’s started to burn in the upper area of the regeneration of the Caledonian pine forest,” he added.
“Once it comes down into there, it’s dry, dry ground, with a real load to burn. It’s just going to get hotter and hotter.”
Evacuations and smoke advisories are still in place after Police Scotland declared a major incident as emergency services battled the wildfire in the Cairngorms National Park.
Powerful winds caused the out-of-control wildfire to behave unpredictably, emergency services previously said.
In an update on Saturday morning, Police Scotland said residents in a small area of properties north-west of Dorback Lodge (Lain Thatchan) had been evacuated as a precaution.
The Scottish Government said a fire break was established around nearby villages overnight, with additional breaks now being built the as Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) deploys more resources to tackle the inferno.
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.
The service also requested more heavy machinery, such as bulldozers, to help with the response.
“Operators who can provide suitable plant machinery to support the ongoing multi-agency response are asked to report to the Village Hall in Nethy Bridge,” SFRS said.
On the ground, Mr McCook said there was a major increase in firefighting units from the SFRS in and around the village, plus multiple wildfire response units.
“I think a lot of people are running on adrenaline,” he said.
“A lot of people are upset, angry and frustrated at the ongoing situation because the Scottish Government said a week ago [on Wednesday] that they had enough resources to deal with it, and they said on Thursday that the fire was contained.
“My argument with that is, if you said the fire was contained and you had enough resources last Wednesday and Thursday, why are we still fighting it 10 days later and it’s still running out of control? It is still not controlled in any way shape or form.”
On Saturday, emergency services said there were nine fire appliances at the scene, supported by specialist wildfire resources.
SFRS said it has maintained a “significant operational response” since the wildfire was first reported on July 15.
More than 500 firefighters have tackled the blaze over the last 10 days, alongside specialist wildfire appliances, all-terrain vehicles, helicopter water-bombing operations and partner agencies.
The update came after First Minister John Swinney chaired a meeting of the Scottish Government’s Resilience Room (SGoRR) on Friday night.
The meeting was attended by several ministers and representatives from emergency services, including SFRS and Police Scotland.
On Friday, the First Minister told PA: “I would obviously ask people in the region to follow all of the advice that is available and to respect the exclusion zone that’s been put in place.
“This is an incident that we felt was moving in a positive direction earlier this week, but with the change of weather circumstances – which is an illustration of just the scale and difficulty of the situation that we are managing – it has moved in the other direction.”
His comments came as smoke from the wildfire near Glenmore drifted as far as Aberdeen due to changing wind conditions.
The fire, which broke out near the village of Glenmore on Wednesday last week, led to residents and campsites being evacuated. It covered about six square kilometres of heather and small trees at its height.
Evacuated residents are being directed to a dedicated respite centre at the Macdonald Aviemore Resort.
Members of the public are asked to avoid affected areas in the Cairngorms National Park. SFRS said the area remains unsafe due to firefighting operations, rapidly changing fire conditions and helicopter activity.
